France  under  Louis  XIV 

(LE  GRAND  SIÈCLE) 

Its  Arts-Its  Ideas 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/franceunderlouisOObour 


LOUIS  XIV. 

Engraved  ou  wood  by  Florlan  after  the  Marble  Bust  by  Coysevox. 
(Musée  tie  Versailles.) 


FRANCE 
UNDER  LOUIS  XIV 

(LE  GRAND  SIÈCLE) 

ITS    ARTS-ITS  IDEAS 

FROM  THE  FRENCH  OF 

ÉMILE  BOURGEOIS 

LECTURER  AT  THE  ÉCOLE  NORMALE  SUPERIEURE,   OF  PAR/S 


BY 

MRS.  CASHEL  HOEY 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

153 — 157,   Fifth  Avenue 
1897 


FRONTISPIECE  FROM  A  DRAWING  BY  BÉRAIN. 
(Cabiuet  of  Prints.— Bibliothèque  Nationale.) 


LOUIS  XIV.  GIVES  PLENTY  TO  FRANCE. 
(From  an  engraving  in  the  Cabinet  of  Prints.) 


PREFACE 


ISTORY  of  Louis  XIV.  is  neither  the  title  nor 
the  subject  of  this  book.  It  is  for  a  master 
only  to  take  up  that  history  again,  and  to 
write  it  from  the  documents  which  have  been 
discovered  and  elucidated  since  the  days 
of  Voltaire. 

Voltaire  himself,  when  he  conceived  his 
Essay  on  the  century  of  Louis  XIV.,  did  not 
propose  to  undertake  the  general  and  political 
study  of  the  reign.  As  a  man  of  letters 
rather  than  a  writer  of  history,  his  project 
was  a  picture,  not  a  narrative,  of  the  pre- 
ceding epoch.  He  would  gladly  have  left  the  politicians  to  their 
negotiations  and  the  heroes  to  their  battles  so  that  he  might  observe 
and  portray  the  men  and  the  manners  of  that  century— "  the  most 
enlightened  that  has  ever  been."  He  did  not  do  this;  but  of  the  whole 
of  his  life-work  he  rated  most  highly  the  portion  which  is  now  before  us 
in  the  form  of  an  appendix  to  history  properly  so-called;  his  anecdotes 
of  the  King  and  the  Court;  the  effect  of  the  government  on  conduct 
and  conditions;  the  picture  of  ideas,  arts,  and  creeds. 

I  regarded  the  removal  of  this  picture  of  the  Great  Century  from  the 
frame  in°which  it  was  afterwards  placed  by  Voltaire,  so  as  to  restore  its 


AN  ORNAMENTED  LETTER  01''  THE 
S EV ENT E ENTH  CENTURY. 

(From  the  Collection  of  Frontispieces 
in  the  Bibliothèque  Nationale.) 


ê 


XII 


PREFACE 


value  ancl  its  perspective,  as  all  the  more  legitimate,  because  it  supplies  a 
certain  means  of  serving,  by  his  aid,  the  same  cause  that  he  served;  the 
cause  of  the  Frenchmen  who  made  France  so  great  two  hundred  years  ago. 
This  volume  has  no  other  pretension,  claim,  or  reason  for  existence. 

The  age  we  live  in  delights  in  inquiry  into  the  private  lives  of  great 
men,  and  into  the  spirit  of  society  in  the  past.  It  loves  to  interrogate 
them  directly,  so  that  it  may  get  at  the  secrets  of  their  passions  and  find 
oui  their  state  of  mind  at  different  periods.     It  neglects  the  "  boards  "  for 

"  behind  the  scenes,"  and  would 
fain  mingle  familiarly  with 
those  who  are  usually  seen 
only  as  actors  playing  their 
parts.  This  curiosity  is  not 
culpable.  "  It  almost  ceases 
to  be  curiosity,"  said  Voltaire, 
"  when  it  has  epochs  and 
men  who  attract  the  oaze  of 
posterity  for  its  object." 

This  commendable  instinct 
moreover  ought  not  to  be  ex- 
clusive, it  should  apply  itself 
to  the  epoch  of  Louis  XIV.  as 
well  as  to  the  periods  of  the 
Eevolution,  Napoleon,  and  the 
Restoration. 

The  Great  Century  pre- 
sents an  object  of  general 
curiosity  which  yields  to  no 
other  in  interest.  Because  it  is  classic,  because  our  forefathers  of  that 
date  wore  wigs,  we  must  not  come— like  the  combatants  of  the  Romantic 
school  in  the  thick  of  the  fight— to  the  conclusion  that  the  French  of 
ili^  pcri.,,1,  trammelled  by  rigid  social  rules,  stifled  under  the  scenery, 
decoration  and  costume  of  Versailles,  had  no  free,  intelligent  and  merry 
life  of  their  own,  at  Court,  in  their  homes— nay,  even  in  the  street. 
The  Loves,  the  Graces,  and  the  Muses  had  their  place  in  the  order 
which  Louis  XIV.  imposed  upon  himself  and  enjoined  upon  all  around 
The  King  himself  set  the  example;   he  enjoyed  perfect  health, 


LOUIS  XIV.  AT  THE  PERIOD  OK  HIS  MARRIAGE. 
(Kroni  the  original  portrait  by  Miguarcl,  eugravcil  by  Pollly.) 


him. 


PREFACE 


XIII 


was  eager  for  pleasure,  delighted  in  sports  and  fêtes  ;  never  was  there  a 
more  powerful  ruler  or  a  more  ardent  lover.  To  know  the  men  whom 
he  associated  with  his  work  and  with  his  Court,  we  need  only  look  into 
their  private  lives. 

Voltaire  is  one  of  the  best  guides  to  such  intimacy.    He  was  young  in 
the  reign  of    Louis   XIV.      "I  am,"  he  said,  "almost  an  eye-witness." 
That  which   he  had    not   seen    he   had    learned  from  older  men  whose 
reminiscences  he  collected  in 
time    to     understand  them. 
When   he    fails    us,    we  can 
still  complete  and  verify  the 
living    image    of   the  Great 
Century     by  contemporary 
memoirs.    This   I  have  done, 
with  the  help  of  Saint-Simon, 
Dangeau,  Madame  de  Sévigné, 
Labruyère,  Ormesson,  Choisy, 
Mesdames  de  Motteville,  La- 
fayette,  Lavallière,  Spanheim 
(the  German),  or  less  distin- 
guished  individuals,   such  as 
Laporte  (the  King's  valet),  and 
the  editor  of  the  Mercure.  But 
I  have  always  been  careful  to 
indicate   the   exact   point  at 
which  we  part  with  Voltaire, 
and  resort  to  fresh  witnesses, 
so   that  his    picture   may  be 
left  intact. 

Moreover,  the  secret  of  an  epoch  is  almost  always  to  be  read  in  the 
art  which  it  has  bequeathed  to  us.  The  art  of  the  seventeenth  century 
is  not  sufficiently  interrogated.  It  is  judged  by  Versailles,  its  ceilings  and 
its  panels,  its  garden  -baths"  and  formal  cut  yew-trees.  The  whole 
is  ascribed  to  Lebrun  and  Le  Nôtre,  and  the  perpetual  decoration  is 
fatiguing,  although  the  great  ability  of  the  decorators  is  everywhere 
evident,  and  frequently  compels  admiration.  Nevertheless,  the  case  is 
the  same   with   the   art   as  with  the  literature  and  the  society   of  that 


M  ABIE-THERESE. 

From  a  drawing  by  Nauteuil. 
(Cabinet  of  Prints.) 


XIV 


PREFACE 


time.  Closely  examined,  it  is  Jiving,  bright,  highly  finished,  full  of  the 
grace  and  charm  of  the  purely  French  genius  which  produced  it.  It 
does  not  speak,  when  it  is  heard  aright,  the  eternally  conventional 
language  ascribed  to  it.  The  portraits  by  Poilly,  those  by  anonymous 
painters  preserved  at  the  Louvre  and  at  Versailles,  the  busts  by 
Côysevox  and  Warm,  the  medals  by  Warin,  Mauger,  Loir,  Molart  and 
Bcrtinetti,  the  famous  wax  medallion  by  Antoine  Benoist,  show  us  a 
verv  different  Louis  XIV.  at  every  age  from  the  King  in  Court  costume 


VERSAILLES. — PRINCIPAL  FRONT,  LOOKING  ON  THK  GARDENS. 
(From  a  print  by  Israel  Silvestre.) 


whom  II.  Rigaud  painted.  And  how  true  and  natural  his  Ministers  and 
liis  whole  following  appear  in  the  works  of  CI.  Lefebvre,  Chauveau, 
Nanteuil,  S.  Bourdon,  Coysevox  and  Desjardins.  French  sculpture,  with 
\  an  Cleve.  Tnliv  and  Ballin,  was  so  rich,  even  at  Versailles,  in  genius, 
spirit  and  elegance,  that  the  eighteenth  century  might  well  have  been 
envious  of  its  predecessor. 

The  engravers  are,  of  all  artists,  the  most  valuable  to  students  of  the 
reign  of  Louis  XI  V.  Their  art,  which  reaches  its  height  in  Mellan,  Morin, 
Nanteuil,  Chauveau,  S.  Leelerc,  Edelinck,  and  G.  Audran,  is  not  limited  to 


PREFACE 


xv 


THE   CHAPEL  OF  THE  INVALIDES. 


great  compositions  and  portraits,  it  lends  itself  to 

subjects  of  every  kind,  scenes  of  life  and  manners, 

views    of    cities    and    buildings,    fashion  prints, 

designs  for  furniture,  almanacs  and  caricatures. 

Each  page  of  the  calendar  which  bears  the 

names  of  such  masters  as  Chauveau,  Leclerc,  or 

de   Poilly,   is  either  an   eloquent   translation  of 

the  complaint  of  the  people  ruined  by  war,  and 

suffering    from    cold    and     hunger,    or  a 

presentment  of  the  Court  in  its  splendour, 

that  royal   circle   of   lords   and  ladies 

over  which  Louis  XIV.  majestically 
presides.  The  famous  caricature  by 
Guérard,  "Paysan  né  pour  la  peine" 
(Peasant  born  for  toil),  forms  a  com- 
mentary on  the  fine  phrase  which 
the  compassion  of  La  Bruyère  for 
the   humble    folk   suggested.  Certain 

engravers  are  bitter  against  the  luxury  of  the  bourgeoisie,  others  take 
pleasure  in  describing  it.     Saint-Jean,  who  has  the  entrée   to  boudoirs 

and  dressing-rooms  ;  Bonnart, 
who  is  up  to  the  very  latest 
date  of  fashion,  illustrate  the 
progress  and  the  influence  of 
the  middle  class  by  the  wealth 
and  luxury  which  its  members 
display.      The   work    of  the 
engravers  is  therefore  a  vera- 
cious  and    complete  chronicle 
of  the  Great  Century,  which 
does  not  lessen,  but  explains  it, 
Time  would  have  failed  me 
for  the  formation  of  that  gallery 
of  seventeenth  century  pictures 
which  I  purposed  to  add,  as  a 
fbance  triumphant.  new  and  necessary  explanation, 

A  group  by  Tuby  arid  Coysevox,  recently  restored.  ,         ^        Essay      of  Voltaire, 

(Gardens  of  Versailles.)  J 


XVI 


PREFACE 


but  for  the  advice  and  encouragement  that  I  have  received.  My 
task  being  ended,  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  recording  my 
indebtedness  to  the  kindness  of  M.  Henry  Roujon,  Director  of  the 
Beaux  Arts  ;  to  the  learning  of  M.  P.  de  Nolhac,  Conservator  of 
the  Museum  of  Versailles,  which  is  being  transfomed  under  his  rule,  to 
the  advantage  of  history  and  art  :  to  MM.  Taphanel  and  H.  Léonardon, 
Curators  of  the  Versailles  Library.  I  also  desire  to  thank  MM.  Duplessis 
and  Bouchot,  of  the  Cabinet  of  Prints  at  the  Bibliothèque  Nationale. 
And  1  shall  always  gratefully  remember  the  reception  accorded  me  at  the 
Gobelins,  the  Mint,  the  Garde-Meuble,  and  the  Chateau  de  Fontainebleau. 
1  have  been  aided  in  my  desire  to  make  my  readers  like  and  understand 
the  art  of  the  seventeenth  century  by  the  fine  and  correct  taste  of  Baron 
Jérôme  Pichon,  and  the  accomplished  art-lovers  who  have  given  me  free 
access  to  their  private  collections.  I  beg  to  express  my  profound  gratitude 
to  them. 

If,  as  I  hope,  the  Great  Century,  being  made  more  intimately  known, 
shall  recover  in  ours  the  favour  it  deserves,  that  reversion  to  truth  and 
justice  will  be  largely  due  to  those  who  have  thus  aided  me. 

Emile  Bourgeois. 

Versailles,  November  24,  1895. 


TIME  SHIELDS  TRUTH  FROM  THE  ATTACKS  OF 
ENVY  AND  DISCORD. 

By  Nicolas  Poussin.— Musée  du  Louvre. 
(From  the  plate  by  Hraun,  Clément  it  Co.) 


THE  LOVES  LAYING  BY  THEIR  ARMS. 
'A  heading  by  Francois  Cnanveau  for  Hie  Collection  of  the  Courses  de  tides  et  de  bagne»  in  the  Imprimerie  Royale.) 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Preface 


PAGES 

ix-xvi 


LOUIS    XIV.    AND     HIS  COURT. 
I. — The  Preface  of  the  Reign;  the  Youth  and  Education  of  the  King. 


T 


HE  interest  that  attaches  to  the  details  of  a 


subject  of  a  malicious  book. — How  Louis  XIV. 
formed  his  own  mind  and  taste. — His  education 
under  the  Maréchal  de  Villeroy. — Testimony 
of  Laporte,  Saint-Simon,  and  Spanheim  to  the 
systematic  neglect  of  him  by  Mazarin.  — 
Opposing  testimony  by  Mazarin  and  Louis  XIV. 
— The  birth  and  childhood  of  Louis  XIV. 
according  to  Laporte. — Madame  de  Montpensier 
and  Madame  de  Motteville. — His  first  speech 
to  the  parliament  of  Paris. — The  early  years 
of  the  reign,  fetes,  plays,  ballets. — A  curé 
wants  to  abolish  these. — The  marriage  of  the 
King. — The  Court  at  that  epoch. — The  opera 
in  France. — The  man  with  the  iron  mask. — A 
sketch  of  the  Court  in  1660,  according  to 
Madame  de  Lafayette.— Fouquet.— The  fêtes  at  Vaux.— The  trial  of  Fouquet  ;  a  fine 
but  useless  act  of  his;  the  dissimulation  of  Louis  XIV.;  Colbert  the  persecutor 
of  Fouquet.  -Le  Tellier  and  Séguier  bitterly  antagonistic  to  him.— Mazarin  and 
Fouquet.— Sentence  on  the  superintendent.  — Saint-Évremond.  —  Opinion  of  contem- 


OHNAMENTED   LUTTER  BY 
FRANÇOIS  CHAUVEAU. 

(  t  torn  the  Collection  of  the  Courses  de  têtes  et  de  bagues 
at  the  Imprimerie  Royale.) 


poraries 


that  of  d'Ormesson  on  the  trial 


1-36 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS 


IT. — The  Burn!  of  the  Ukkat  Century. 


Splendour  of  the  Court. — The  royal  personality,  according  to  Mesdames  de  Lafayette 
and  de  Sévigné,  Bossuet,  Massi  the  Italian,  and  Spanheim. — The  Court  :  the 
King's  relations  with  Madame.  —Gallantries,  magnificent  fetes,  the  Tournament 
of  10C)2. — The  motto  :  Nee  pluribus  im/par. — Court  Fools. — The  King's  Day, 
from    the    .Memoirs    of    Louis    XIV.,    Saint-Simon,    Spanheim,    and  Madame 

de  Sévigné. — Louvois  and  Col- 
bert, according  to  Spanheim. — 
Audiences  of  the  King  :  satis- 
faction made  by  the  Pope's 
legate.  —  Recepttion  of  the 
Doge  of  Venice,  from  Le 
Mercure  de  France. — The  royal 
pomp  at  Versailles,  according 
to  Le  Mercure  and  Madame 
de  Sévigné.  —  The  Princess 
Palatine. — Fêtes  and  Play  at 
Court,  according  to  Saint- 
Simon,  the  Princess  Palatine, 
Dangeau,  and  Bourdaloue. — 
The  courtiers,  according  to 
La  Bruyère. — Privileged  coats, 
costumes.  —  Magnificence  and 
order  of  the  royal  household. 
—  Entertainment  of  the 
"  seigneurs,"  the  King's  gifts, 
according  to  Spanheim.  — 
Presents  and  pensions  to 
men  of  letters  in  Europe. — 
Banishment  of  the  Comte  de 
Bussy  37-98 

III. — The  Apogee  of  the 
Reign. — Morals  of  the 
King  and  the  Court. 
Royal  Friendships.  —  Louis 
XIV.  no  longer  dances  on 
the  stage. — Mademoiselle  de 
la  Vallière,  her  retirement. — 
Her  portrait,  by  Spanheim, 
d'Ormesson,  the  Princess  Pala- 
tine, the  Abbé  de  Choisy,  and 


ROGER  DE  BUSSY-RABUT1N,  A  C'OLONKL  (MAÎTRE  DU  CAM1') 
IN  THK  ROYAL  ARMY. 
(From  a  print  in  the  Hennin  Collection.) 


by  herself. -Madame  de  Montespan.  —  The  Court  of  the  Mortemart  "ladies, 
according  to  Saint-Simon.— Favour  of  Madame  de  Montespan.— The  journey 
1<»  Dover.-  Henrietta  of  England  and  Mademoiselle  de  la  Quérouaille  "o  to 
negotiate  with  Charles  II.— Madame  believed  to  be  poisoned.-The  indiscretion 
Of  lurenne  causes  the  unhappiness  of  Madame  and  all  the  odious  rumours  of 
the  time.  Origin  of  the  frequent  poisonings  complained  of  at  that  period  — 
!  -  /\1;u'tiuise  ^  Brinvilliers. -Voisin,  the  sorceress.- Alleged  witchcraft.-The 
Maréchal   de   Luxembourg   in   the   Bastille.-Three    rivals  for   the   heart  of 


ii 


TABLE 


OF 


CONTENTS 


Louis  XIV.  —  Mademoiselle  de 
Fontanges. — The  last  triumph  of 
the  Marquise  de  Montespan.- — 
Madame  de  Maintenon  in  favour. 
—Her  marriage.  —  Saint-Cyr.  — 
The  King's  illness.  —  Death  of 
the  Bavarian  Dauphine. — Esther 
and  Aihalie. — The  Children  of 
France. — The  Duchesse  de  Bour- 
gogne (Dauphine)  acts  in  comedy. 

Louis  XIV.  is  bereft  of  almost 
the  whole  of  his  family. — Portraits 
of  the  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne 
by  Louis  XIV.  and  Saint-Simon. 

— Her  death.— Suspicion  of  poison,  and  calumnies  against  the  Duc  d'Orléans 


THE  CORONATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 
(Composition  and  print  by  S.  Leclerc.) 


PAGES 

99-164 


IV.— The  Decline  of  the  Reign. — Tim  King's  Old  Age. 
Louis  XIV.  in  the  hands  of  Le  Tell  ier.  —  Princes  legitimized.  —  The  last 
illness  of  the  King. — He  dies  with  unostentatious  courage.— HiS  last  words 
to  the  Dauphin  (Louis  XV.).— The  King  is  less  regretted  than  he  ought  to 
have  been.— His  character,  his  conduct,  and  his  sayings.— His  good  taste.— 
Memorable  words.— Writings  from  his  own  hand  in  which  he  gives  an 
account  of  his  conduct,  and  indicates  his  character.— His  advice  to  his 
grandson,  King  of  Spain.— His  politeness.— His  wisdom,  circumspection,  and 
kindness.— His  love  of  praise,  but  also  his  desire  to  be  deserving  of  it.— The 
statue  of  the  Maréchal  de  la  Feuillade.    The  children  of  Louis  XIV. 


165-194 


i.ons  xiv.  in  liiOd. 
(From  a  silver  crown  with  the  eight  "L's"  crowned.) 


LOUTS    XIV.    AND    HIS  MINISTERS. 

j_  Internal  Government.— Justice,  Commerce,  Police,  Laws,  Military 

Discipline,  the  Navy. 

The  assiduity  of  Louis  XIV.  in  affairs.- Finance,-  His  liberality  to  the 
people -HospitalS.-Commerce.-PortS.-Commercial  and  colonial  companies 
formed.- Encouragements    in    the    merchant    marine.-Injustxce    done  to 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS 


\ 


Colbert.— Manufactures.—  Les  Gobelins,  La  Savonnerie,  glass 
factories.— Sedan,  Aubusson,  &c.  Industrial  arts.— The  adorn- 
ment of  Paris.— The  Police.— Buildings  at  Saint-Germain  and 
Versailles,  also  in  Paris.— Bernini  and  Perrault.— Foundations 
at  Saint-Cyr,  the  Invalides,  etc.— Judgments  given  by 
Louis  XIV.— Legislation.— Duels  abolished.— Military  regula- 
tions.—Artillery,  fortresses.— Praise  by  Spanheim  of  the 
organisation  of  the  French  forces  by  Louis  XIV.  and 
Louvois.—  Criticism  by  Saint-Simon.— The  Navy.— The 
haughty  attitude  of  Louis  XIV.  towards  England.— New 
military  ports.— Shipping-yards  and  docks  :  naval  battles. — 
Colonies. — The    personal    achievements    of    Louis    XIV. — 

Memorials  drawn  up  by  intendants  for  the  instruction  of  pages 
the  Dauphin.— What  Louis  XIV.  did,  and  what  remained  to  be  done  — 
Fortunate  changes  in  the  country.— Hardly  any  conspiracy.— The  French 
bourgeoisie  :  increase  of  politeness  and  accomplishments. — People  in  general 
well-to-do.— Paris  the  centre  of  the  Arts.— A  picture  of  Paris  and  the 
Parisian,  by  La  Bruyère.—  Saint-Simon  :  eulogy  and  regret         .         .  195-252 


MILITARY  DISCIPLINE. 

(A  medal  by  Hanger,  struck  fur 
the  establishment  of  the  Com- 
panies of  Cadets,  1665.) 


U  EVESQUE  DE,  M  EAUX  . 

Secretaire  du  Cyn/êtl  de /a  S?£ifue . 


HetUctTiUn  ■  a'u  TtftraM  Miec  fcur  epntrcrerse. . 
Centre  /es  /rrett'jtarrs  n'ont /*.isjb/rj£rt  qrasta'.j/ruicc': 
Un  traie f  Je  ma  /'/urne  fins  Sriut , 
Zes  enrjve  terus  a  /a  renrerse . 


■LOTJVOIS^ 

iicecutezer  des  ordres  de  la.  S.  Lutte 


Miras  ewjuerre  et  en  l'£c!ù 
T'exéiUe  pttrteuf  As  jrdr,\s  de  m 
le  remplis  ù  frarree  d'esfrer, 
£t  Ce  mets  CaJj  ui  en  ^Aemise 


BOSSUF.T,   PERSECUTOR  Or  PROTESTANTS. 
(A  caricature  in  mezzotint.) 


LOUVOIS,  PERSECUTOR   OF  PROTESTANTS. 
(A  caricature  iu  mezzotint.) 


II. — Finance  and  Regulations. 

Colbert  :  his  merits. — Little  understanding  among  the  people  in  matters  of 
finance.  The  parliament  of  Paris  is  forbidden  to  make  remonstrance  previous 
to  registration.— The  administration  of  Colbert. — Edict  of  1666  in  favour  of 
numerous  families.— Colbert  cannot  do  all  the  good  he  desires  to  do. — The 
peasants  and  the  question  of  corn. — Loans. — Revenue-farmers. — Le  Pelletier, 
(  ■omptroller-Ceneral. — Silver  furniture  proscribed.  —  General  reform  of  the 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS 


currency.  —The  cost  of  the  reign  ;  war  always  impoverishes.— Capitation  tax. 
— The  tithe. — Chamillart,  minister. — Desmarets,  minister. — The  money  and 
the  coinage  of  the  country.— Wealth  and  poverty.— Industry  and  culture.— 

Easy    circumstances    of    the    middle    class,    condition    of    the  peasants.  

Testimony  of  La  Bruyère,   Guy  Patin,   Madame  de  Sévigné,   Vauban,  and 
Saint-Simon  to  the  lot  of  the  peasantry  in  the  seventeenth  century    .        .  253-280 


/ 


THE  KINO,   A  BENEFICENT  SUN. 

(From  a  meilal  by  Loir,  l  i;oo.  ) 


ARTS,    LITERATURE,    AND  SCIENCES. 
I. — Sciences. 

The  philosophic  and  critical  spirit  in  France  at  the  beginning  of  the  century. — ■ 
Descartes. — The  Royal  Society  of  London. — Louis  XIV.  and  Colbert  encourage 
the  sciences  and  give  pensions  to  foreign  savants. — The  Academy  of  Sciences, 
the  Royal  Garden  (Jardin  des  Plantes),  the  Observatoire,  the  journal  of  the 

savants,  the  Academy  of  Inscrip- 
tions.—  Superstitions. — Sorcerers 
opposed. — Philosophy  a  necessity. 
— Why  Voltaire  assigns  the  first 
place  to  the  sciences 


GUILLEAUME  DE  Tï  STEAfBFRG. 

Cri£  tie  .  J/ûso.  est . 


J'aj'  fur&e monptus  ppur-Jerutr  a /a.  francs 
Sjic  rrxrma  tr3nisût-/ôù  fràr  m.-z  rr  Ar.tR. 
7 ùetiâ/e 'la  J.'ats par  ma  rrute/zarKite.  ■ 
Z/ru  it£6ave  est  ma  recamrenst . 


281-290 


CA  It  1)1  N  AL  FO  HSTENBERC . 
(A  caricature  in  mezzotint.) 


II. — Literature. 

oquence. — The  writings,  and  also 
the  French  (language),  of  the 
sixteenth  century. — Jean  de  Lin- 
gendes.  —  Balzac.  —  Voiture.  — 
Vaugelas. — Patin.- -The  Duc  de 
la  Rochefoucauld. — Pascal. — The 
"  Lettres  Provinciales."  —  Bour- 
daloue.  —  Bossuet.  —  Fénelon. — 
"  Télémaque." — La  Bruyère. 
Pellisson.  —  Saint -Réal.  —  The 
great  Corneille. — Racine. — Moli- 
ère. —  Boileau.  —  La  Fontaine. 
— Quinault. — La  Motte. — Rous- 
seau.—  Impossible  to  make  new 
masterpieces.  —  "  La  Banque 
Française  Universelle"    .        .  291—310 


v 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS 


III. — The  Fine  Akts. 

PAGES 

Music.  Lulli.  —  Architecture. —  Painting  ;  the  Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts  and 
Painting  at  Rome.  Sculpture.  Medals. — Engravings. — Surgery. — Medicine. 
— Why  Voltaire  places  surgery  and  medicine  among  the  Fine  Arts. — Catalogue 
of  French  artists,  by  Voltaire. — Musicians. — Painters. — Sculptors. — Architects. 
— Engravers  ............  311-334 

IV. — The  Fine  Akts  in  Europe  in  the  time  op  Louis  XIV. 

What  history  ought  to  retain. — The  English  in  the  seventeenth  century. — 
Milton.-  Dryden. — Pope. — Addison. — Swift. — Motives  of  Voltaire's  admiration 
of  the  English  ;  Letters  on  England. — Bacon,  Newton,  Halley. — Locke  and 
Plato.  Hevelius  ;  singular  generosity  of  Louis  XIV.  to  him. — Leibnitz. — 
Golden  age  of  geometry. — Physics  since  Galileo. — Why  the  seventeenth  ought 
to  be  called  the  Century  of  Louis  XIV   335-346 


IDEAS.    THE  CHURCH  AND  RELIGION. 


I. — Ecclesiastical   Affairs. — Memorable  Disputes. 

The  Church  and  the  Clergy  of  France,  first  Order  of  the  State. — Immunities 
of  the  Church. — Comparative  wealth  of  the  Church  in  France  and  in  Europe. 
— "  Free  Gift." — Former  rules  of  the  Clergy  of  France. — The  King's  conduct 

with  the  Clergy. — The  Liber- 
ties of  the  Gallican  Church. 
— Formerly  the  kings  pre- 
sented to  all  livings. — Re- 
sistance to  the  Bishop  of 
Pamiers. — A  grand- vicaire 
dragged  on  a  hurdle  in  effigy. 
— Famous  Assembly  of  the 
Clergy.  —  France  ready  to 
sejwate  from  Rome. — The 
four  propositions.- — Innocent 
XT.  inimical  to  Louis  XIV. 
— Reform  of  the  Clergy. — 
Superstitions  partially  sup- 
pressed    .         .         .  .341 

II.  —  Calvinism  in  the 
time  of  Louis  XIV. 

Why  have  theological  quar- 
rels always  existed? — Origin 
of  the  sects  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  :  Catholics 
and  protestants. — The 
protestants  of  France. — The 
Edict  of  Nantes. — Sedition 
and  civil  war  of  "the 
lulu  and  ins  orchestra.  Reform." — Richelieu  at  last 

(Prom  a  prim  by  it<,niiart.)  desires  to  re-unite  the  two 


364 


TABLE 


CONTENTS 


religions.— The  reformed  sect  is  protected  by  Colbert. — Louis  XIV.  is  made 
angry  with  them. — Little  children  converted. — Measures  taken  by  the 
Government — Pellisson  purchases  converts. — The  works  of  conversion. — 
Preachers  broken  on  the  wheel. — Huguenots  fly  from  France. — The  dragon- 
nades.— An  inhuman  letter  written  by  Louvois. — The  Edict  of  Nantes  is 
revoked.  —  Population,  money,  and  manufactures  taken  out  of  France.  — 
Prisons  and  galleys. — Rebels  and  prophets. — Sleeping  prophets. — Brousson, 
a  Huguenot  minister,  is  broken  on  the  wheel.  —  Assassin-prophets.  —  The 
Abbé  de  la  Bourlie. — War  of  the  fanatics. — Cavalier,  a  journeyman  baker, 
makes  war  on  Louis  XIV. — He  treats  with  Villars. — His  history. — The 
conspiracy  of  the  prophets. — Prophet-refugees  in  London. — Saint-Simon  more 
just  to  the  people  of  Geneva  and  the  Camisards  (White  Shirts)  ;  his  testimony 
upon  Bâville  and  the  severe  treatment  of  the  protestants  of  the  south        .  365-396 

III. — Jansenism. 

Jansenism  less  turbulent  than  Calvinism. — Baïus  unintelligible. — Rome  derides 
him. — Molinos,  a  visionary. — A  trial  in  Rome  for  his  visions. — Neither  the 
pleaders  nor  the  judges  know  what  is  meant. — Jansen  condemned  by  the 
Sorbonne. — Arnauld. — The  five  propositions  are  condemned  by  Innocent  X. — 
Mazarin  causes  the  bull  to  be  received. — Disputes  in  the  Church  of 
France. — Arnauld  is  persecuted  by  the  Sorbonne,  and  suspected  of  Calvinism. 
— Formulary  imposed  upon  the  nuns  of  Port-Royal. — The  miracle  of  Made- 
moiselle Perrier.  —  The  "  Lettres  Provinciales  "  a  masterpiece.  —  That 
masterpiece  is  burned.  -The  nuns  of  Port-Royal  are  carried  away  from  their 
convent. — The  "Peace  of  Clement  XL" — The  Jansenist  Society. — Jansenist 
assemblies,  Port-Royal. — Quesnel  ;  imprisoned. — Set  free. — Père  Quesnel  and 
the  Pope. — Père  Le  Tellier,  confessor  to  the  King. — Madame  de  Maintenon. — 
Royal  authority  employed  by  the  Jesuits. — A  bull  is  drawn  up  by  them 
which  throws  everything  into  disorder. — The  Constitution  ;  enmity  against 
Père  Le  Tellier. — Acceptants  and  appellants. — Law's  system  throws  the  bull 
into  oblivion. — Apparent  pacification. — Convulsionists. — The  "  Diacre  Paris." 
— Cardinal  Dubois  and  Cardinal  de  Tencin       ......  397-130 


THE  l'EASANT  AT  HIS  PLOUGH. 

(From  a  coin  in  commemoration  of  the  capture 
of  Cambray,  io"7.) 


vit 


TABLE 


OF 


CONTENTS 


IV. — QUIEÏISM- 

FAGES 

Causes  of  the  quarrel.- — Madame  Guyon  and  her  extravagant  notions. — Père 
Lacombe,  her  director. — Madame  Guyon  shut  up  at  Vincennes. — Fénelon 
and  Madame  Guyon. — Fénelon  persecuted  on  account  of  this  matter. — Père 
de  La  Chaise  and  Bossuet  against  him. — The  mystics  judged  at  Rome. — Pope 
Innocent  XII.  pronounces  judgment  in  the  dispute. — Louis  XIV.  is  displeased 
with  the  ideas  of  Fénelon  upon  government. — Fénelon  condemned. — He 
submits  — His  philosophic  retirement. — The  affair  of  Cardinal  de  Bouillon. — 
The  truth  of  that  affair   .        .  431-446 

ALPHABETICAL  List  of  the  principal  painters,  sculptors,  engravers,  &c.        .        .  449 

Index  461 


TAILl'IKCH  ENGRAVED  BY  l'OILLY. 
(Cabinet  of  Prints,  Bibliothèque  Nationale.) 


via 


FRONTISPIECE  OP  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENT0RY. 
(Hennin  Collection,  Cabinet  of  Prints. — Bibliothèque  Nationale.) 


List  of  Illustrations 


LIST  OF  PORTRAITS  ENGRAVED  ON  COPPER 

Facing 
page 

I.  Anne  of  Austria  (from  thé  portrait  by  Philippe  de  Champaigne,  engraved 

by  Morin)  4 

[I.— Louis  XIV.  in  armour,  holding  the  Sceptre  (tV       the  original  portrait  by 

.).  de  la  Haye)   .        .  24 

Ml.    The  Marquise  de  Sévigné  (pastel  by  I!.  Nanteuil,  belonging  to  the  Comte  de 

Laubespin)      .        .        .        •        •        •        •        •        •        •  '-' 

|\'.    S.   A.rnauld  de   Pomponne,  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs  (from 

the  portrait  by  Nanteuil,  1075)         .....  .02 

V.    Philippe  de  Courcillon,  Marquis  de  Dangeau  (from  t he  portrait  by  H.  Rigaud, 

engraved  by  P.  Drevet)    ....  ....  82 

VI.    Anne-Marie-Louise  d'Orléans,  Duchesse  de  Montpensier  (from  the  portrait  by 

de  Sève,  engraved  by  Van  Schuppen)  104 

VIL— Henrietta  of    England  (Madame),  Duchesse  d'Orléans  (painting  belonging  to 

the  Earl  of  Home,  in  England)  120 

VIII.     Krai, rois  Henri  de  Montmorency,  Duc  et  Maréchal  de  Luxembourg  (from  the 

portrait  by  H.  Rigaud,  engraved  by  Edelinck)  128 

IX.    Jeanne  Baptiste  d'Albert  de  Luynes,  Comtesse  de  Verrue  (portrait  belonging 

to  the  Comte  de  Reïset)  1  1,1 

X.— The  Due  de   Bourgogne  visiting  the  Princess  of  Savoy  at  her  toilet 

a  print  by  Arnoult) 
XI.     Philip  V.,  King  of  Spain  (from  H.  Rigaud,  Musée  de  Versailles) 
XII.— Gabriel-Nicolas  de  la  Reynie  (from  P.  Mignard) 

XIII.     Denis  Talon.   Lord  Chief  Justice  (from  Nanteuil) 
XIV— View  of  Saint-Cloud,  by  Etienne  Allegrain  (Musée  de  Versailles) 


(from 

.  L56 

.  184 

.  200 

.  240 

.  248 


a  3 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

XV.  -Louis  Phelipeaux  de  Pontchàrtrain,  Chancellor  of  France  (painting  attributed 

to  Tournière,  belonging  to  the  Comte  de  Mortemart)  ....  272 
XVI.  -Jean  de  la  Bruyère  (painting  on  copper  preserved  at  Versailles)         .         .  300 
XVII.    -Jean  de  la  Fontaine,  Member  of  the  French  Academy  (from  the  portrait  by 

H.  Rigaud,  engraved  by  Edelinck)  304 

XVIII.— Pierre  Mignard  (from  H.  Rigaud)  324 

XIX.— James  II.,   King  of  England   (from  the  portrait  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller, 

engraved  by  I.  Smith)  356 
XX.    Jean    Racine,  Member  of  the  French   Academy  (from   the  engraving  by 

Edelinck)  •  400 

XXL— Philippe  of   France,  Duc  d'Orléans  (from  the  portrait  by  Michel  Corneille, 

Musée  de  Versailles)  422 

XXII. — François  de  Salignac  de  la  Mothe-Fénelon,  Archbishop  of  Cambray  (from 

the  portrait  by  J.  Vivien,  engraved  by  P.  Drevet)     ....  436 


LIST  OF  FULL-PAGE   I LLUSTEATIONS 

.Marble  bust  of  Louis  XIV.,  attributed  to  Coysevox  (Musée  de  Versailles)  .  Frontispiece 
Preface, — Frontispiece  from  a  drawing  by  Bérain  (Cabinet  of  Prints.  —  Bibliothèque 

Nationale)    .............  ix 

Decoration  by  Lebrun,  executed  for  the  Ambassadors'  staircase  (Château  de  Versailles)  1 
Anne   of    Austria    and    her    children    (from  a  picture    in  the   Musée  de  Versailles, 

presented  by  Anne  of  Austria  to  Le  Pelletier,  her  house-steward)  ...  9 
Tapestry  with  the  King's  arms  and  motto  (Carde-Meuble  collection)  .         .  .29 

Louis  XIV.   -Equestrian  statue  by  Girardon  for  the  Place  Vendôme  (from  the  reduction 

in  bronze  at  the  Musée  du  Louvre)  ........  53 

Composition    by    Lebrun,    Bas-relief   by    Coysevox    in    honour    of    Louis    XIV.  as 

conqueror.    "History  registers  his  victories — Fame  publishes  them"   (Salon  de  la 

Guerre.— Château  de  Versailles)      .........  67 

The  Queen's  Guard's  Hall  (Château  de  Versailles)  .......  79 

The  Court  of  Louis  XIV.  assembled  for  the  baptism  of  the  Dauphin,  1668  (from  a 

print  of  the  period)       ...........  85 

Former   boudoir  in  the  apartment  of   Lauzun,  now  a  bedchamber  (from  the  photo- 
graph by  Paid  Robert.    Hôtel  de  M.  le  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)        .        .  .107 
Small  salon  in  the  apartment  of  Lauzun,  left  side  (from  the  photograph  by  Paul 

Robert.    Hôtel  de  M.  le  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)       .        .        .        .        .  .111 

Tin'  requiem  mass  for  Madame  (from  a  print  by  Lepautre)      .....  123 

A  bail  "à  la  Française"  in  l(iS2  (from  an  almanac  of  the  time)      .         .         .  .141 

A    room   in   the   Chateau   de    Fontainebleau,  used   by  Louis  XIV.   and   Madame  de 

Maintenon  in  L685,  decorated  with  the  arms  of  the  King— the  Sun  and  the  L.-L. 

intertwined  ......  147 

Madame  de   Maintenon  and  her  niece,  Mademoiselle  d'Aubigné,  with  Saint-Cyr  in  the 

distance  (from  the  original  painting  by  Ferdinand,  preserved  at  Sa,int-Cyr,  at 

present  in  the  Musée  de  Versailles)   .153 

Advertisement  of  the  almanac  for  1713.    Reproduction  of  Demortain,  the  printseller's 

advertisement  (Hennin  collection. —Bibliothèque  Nationale)  .  ,  .  .164 
Louis  XV.  as  a  child  (from  the  portrait  by  H.  Rigaud,  Musée  de  Versailles)  .         .  169 

x 


LIST 


OF 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Enigmatic  print  to  the  praise  of  Louis  XIV.  (composition  by  Sébastien  Leclerc,  in 

honour  of  the  first  twenty-four  years  of  the  King's  reign).  ....  175 
Bight  side  of  the  bedchamber  of  Louis  XIV.  m  1701  (Château  de  Versailles)  .  .179 
An  entertainment  in  Paris  in  the  seventeenth  century  (banquet  given  in  Paris  by  the 

Duke  of  Alva,   Ambassador  from  Spain,   on  the  birth  of  the  Prince  of  the 

Asturias.  Print  by  the  elder  Scotin,  from  Desmarets)  .  .  .  .  .187 
Print  commemorative  of  the  annexation  of  Franche-Comté,  1679  .  .  .  .195 
Gobelins  tapestry  executed  from  the  designs  of  J.  Romain,  in  the  Pope's  apartments, 

Château  de  Fontainebleau       ..........  203 

Interior  of  a  Parisian  hotel  in  the  seventeenth  century  (from  a  photograph  by  Paul 

Robert)  209 

Louis  XIV.,  painted  by  Charles  Lebrun  (in  the  Queen's  Antechamber,  Musée  de 

Versailles)     .............  223 

The  King's  procession  on  the  Pont  Neuf:  Louis  XIV.  in  the  midst  of  his  subjects 

in  1670  (print  by  Hachtenburgh,  from  Van  der  Meulen)  .....  229 
The  Hôtel  de  Ville,  Paris,  in  1687  (engraving  executed  by  Frosne,  as  a  commission 

from  the  City  Corps,  to  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  the  visit  of  Louis  XIV. 

to  the  capital  after  his  illness)       .........  235 

Portrait  of  Jean-Baptist  Colbert,   with  his  arms — the  Snake  (engraving  by  Andrau, 

from  the  portrait  by  Lefebvre)       .........  255 

A  fragment    of  a  page  of  an  almanac   of  the  time  (Cabinet  of  Prints,  Bibliothèque 

Nationale. — Hennin  collection)        .........  267 

Composition  and  print  by  Sébastien  Leclerc  in  honour  of  Louis  XIV.  (1677)  .        .  281 

The  bedchamber  of  Louis  XIV.  (Château  de  Versailles)  315 

The  amphitheatre  of  Saint-Come,  or  the  Parisian  Surgeons'  Hall  (from  a  print  by 

Simonneau  and  Perelle).        .        .        .        .        .        •        •        ■        •  .319 

Portrait  of  Louis  XIV.  supported  by  Wisdom  and  Religion  (from  a  frontispiece  taken 

from  the  collection  of  Histories  of  France.    Cabinet,  of  Engravings. — Bibliothèque 

Nationale)  347 

The  Salon  of  Madame  de  Maintenon  and    Lmis  XIV.  at  Fontainebleau,  where  the 

Edict  of  1685  against  the  protestants  was  signed      ......  387 

Madame  de   Longueville  urging  her  brothers,  the  Princes  de  Condé  and  fie  Conti,  as 

children,    to  cultivate   Literature  and   Eloquence  (from  a  composition  by  Greg. 

Huret)  411 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS    IN    THE  TEXT 

Louis  XIV.  gives  Plenty  to  France  (from  an  engraving  in  the  Cabinet  of  Prints)  . 
An  ornamented  letter  of  the  seventeenth  century  (from  the  collection  of  frontispieces 

in  the  Bibliothèque  Nationale) 
Louis  XIV.  at   the  period   of  his   marriage  (from  the  original   portrait    by  Mignard, 

engraved  by  Poilly)  x" 
Marie-Thérèse  (from  a  drawing  by  Nanteuil. — Cabinet  of  Prints)  ....  xiii 
Versailles.     Principal  front,  looking  on  the  Gardens  (from  a  print  by  Israel  Silvestre)  xiv 

The  Chapel  of  the  Invalides  xv 

France   triumphant   (a   group  by  Tuby  and   Coysevox,  recently  restored.— Gardens  of 

Versailles)  xx 
Time  shields  Truth  from  the  attacks  of   Envy  and    Discord    (by   Nicolas  Poussin.- 

Musée  du  Louvre.     From  the  plate  by  Braun,  Clément  &  Co.). 

xi 


xvi 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


LOUIS  XIV.  AND  HIS  COURT. 
I.  The  Preface  to  the  Reign:  The  Youth  and  Education  of  the  King. 

PACK 

Louis  XIV.  as  conqueror  :    a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Mazarin   (print  by  Poilly, 

L660)  3 

Fame   entrusts  to  Time  the  image  of  Louis  XIV.  (group  by  Lebrun  and  Guidi. — 

Gardens  of  Versailles)  .        .        .        .        .  .        .        •        ■  .3 

Fame    proclaiming   the   glories  of    Louis  XTV.    (from    an    engraving  by  Sébastien 

Leclerc,  1674)  4 

Louis    XTV.  in   1C>58.     Statuette  in   colour  from   the  Theirs  collection  (Musée  du 

Louvre)  5 
A  noble  and  his  wife  (from  Les  plus  illustre*  Proverbes,  by  Lagniet)  .  .  .5 
The    royal   hunt  at   Vincennes,    during   the    youth    of    Louis    XIV.   (engraving  by 

Moncornet)  .............  6 

Louis  XIV.  and  his  brother  the  Duke  of  Orleans  with  their  governess,  Madame  de 

Souvré,  Marquise  de  Lansac  (Musée  de  Versailles)  ......  7 

The  regency  of  Anne  of  Austria  (medal  of  the  18th  of  May,  1643)         .        .  .8 
Louis  XIV.  when  young,  on  horseback  (School  of  Vouet. — Musée  de  Versailles)        .  8 
Louis  XIV.  in  1644  (from  a  gold  coin)         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .11 

Louis  XIV.  in  the  arms  of  his  nurse  (Musée  de  Versailles.  Recent  acquisitions)  11 
Louis  XIV.  giving  letters  patent  to  the  Benedictines,  1653  (print  by  Lahire)  .  .12 
Louis  XIV.  when  five  years  old  (from  a  medal  by  Mauger  :  May,  1643).  .  .  13 
Louis  XIV.   when  thirteen  years  old  (from  a  medal  by  Mauger  for  his  majority  : 

September,  1650)   13 

The  "  Royal  game  of  Goose,"  for  the  diversion  of  His  Majesty  (from  the  collection 

of  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)       ..........  13 

Comedy  ai   Court  in  1656.    The  theatre  at  Clermont  (from  a  print  in  the  Hennin 

collection)     .............  14 

"Les   noces  de  Thétis."     The  first  opera  played  in  Paris  in   1654    (engraving  by 

Silvestre)      .............  15 

Louis  XIV.  in  costume  as  the  Sun  King  (in  the  ballet  of  La  Nuit)  .  .  .16 
A  gentleman  of  the  Court  in  costume  (in  the  ballet  of  La  Nuit,  1653)  .  .  .17 
Entry  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Mirie-Thérèse  into  Paris  after  their  marriage  (from  the 

official  account  published  in  1662  by  the  City  of  Paris)  .  .  .  .  .18 
Opera  and  ballet  costume  (from  a  MS.  by  Bérain  in  the  Versailles  Library)  .  .  18 
Entry  of   Louis  XIV.  and  Marie-Thérèse  into  Paris  after  their  marriage  (from  the 

official  account  published  in  1662  by  the  City  of  Paris) 
Opera  and  ballet  costume  (from  a  MS.  by  Bérain  in  the  Versailles  Library) 
Grotesque  faces  for  ballets  .-nul  operas  (MS.  by  Bérain  in  the  Versailles  Library) 
(irotesque  dancers  for  ballets  and  operas 
The   King  assuming  the  government  of  the  State 

.Medal  by  Molart  (1661)  

The  death  of  Cardinal  Mazarin  (from  a  contemporary  print)  ... 
The  Queen's  entry  into  Paris,  1660  (medal  by  Molart) 
Louis  XIV.  in  [660  (medal  by  Loir) 

Philippe,  »  Fils  de  France,"  brother  of  the  King  (from  a  portrait  by  Lely) 
The  Court  at  Fontainebleau  in   1662,-  "The  Grandest  Court  in  Europe"  (print  by 

Lepautre)  05 
Councillor  to  the  parliament  (in  Les  conditions  de  la  rie  humaine,  by  S.  Leclerc)       .'  26 

xii 


19 
19 
20 
1,  22 

23 
23 
23 
23 
23 
24 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

The  arms  of  Colbert  with  the  adder  in  the  centre  (heading  in  honour  of  Colbert)     .  27 
Fouquet  protecting  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  rendering  justice  (print  by  Chauveau).  27 
A  chief  justice  (in  Les  conditions  de  la  rie  humaine,  by  S.  Leclerc)  .        .        .  .28 

Pouquet  (by  S.  Bourdon     Musée  de  Versailles)      .......  32 

Composition    in   the  form  of  a  medal  in  honour  of   Chancellor  Le  Tellier  (by  Van 

Schuppen,  1679)   ............  33 

The  revenue-farmer,  or  the  miser  (engraving  by  Landry)         .         .         .         .  .34 

A  satirical  print.  The  revenue-farmers  punished  by  the  royal  justice  (1661)  .  .  35 
Jewels  of  the  seventeenth  century  (from  drawings  by  Gilles  l'Egaré)        .         .         .  36 

1 1 .  -The  Birth  of  the  Great  Century. 

Frieze  of  the  Salon  de  l'Œil  de  Bœuf.     (Bas-relief  by  Van  ('lève  in  gilded  stucco. — 

Chateau  de  Versailles)  ...........  37 

Gallant  France  (print,  eighteenth  century — touching  the  King's  love  affairs)     .        .  37 
Louis  XIV.  as  a  young  man  (from  an  anonymous  picture  in  the  Louvre)         .         .  38 
.Medallion  of  Louis  XIV.,  by  Bertinetti.    (Collection  of  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)         .  38 
Louis  XIV.,  medallion  by  Pierre  Puget  (Musée  de  Versailles)  ....  39 

Apollo  presenting  the   image  of  Louis  XIV.  to  France.     (Bas-relief  in  marine  by 

Coustou. — Musée  du  Louvre).        .........  40 

Cabinet  by  Boulu,  with  a  medallion  of  the  King  in  the  centre.    (From  the  collection 

in  the  Mobilier  National. — Château  de  Versailles.    The  King's  chamber)    .        .  41 
Bronze  bust  of  Louis  XIV.  (Château  de  Versailles)       .        .        .        .        .  .42 

Bust  of  Louis  XIV.,  by  Warin  (Musée  de  Versailles)    ......  43 

Louis  XIV.  and  the  Court  ladies,  1665  (from  an  almanac  of  the  period)  .  45 
French  gallantry   in    the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  (from  a  print  of  the 

period)         .............  46 

The  Royal  Tournament  in  the  courtyard  of  the  Tuileries,  1662  :  a  quadrille.  (From 

the    illustrated    collection    by   Fr.    Chauveau,    Courses   de   (êtes   et   de  bagues. 

Illuminated  copy  in  the  Versailles  Library)     .......  47 

The   King  as  Roman  Emperor  at  the  tournament  of  1062.     (Collection  of  Courses  de 

têtes  et  de  bagues.  Illuminated  copy  in  the  Versailles  Library)  .  .  .48 
The   Duc  de  Guise  as  King  <>f  the  Americans  at  the  tournament  in  1662.  (From 

the  collection  in  the  Imprimerie  Royale:  Courses  de  têtes  et  de  bagues)  .  .  49 
The  Duc  d'Enghien  as  the  King  of   India  at   the  tournament  of   100)2.     (From  the 

collection  in  the  Imprimerie  Royale:  Courses  <Jr  tries  et  de  bagues)  .  .  .49 
The  Prince  de  Coudé  as  Emperor  of  the  Turks  at  the  tournament  of  1662  .  .  49 
■•  Nee  Pluribus  Impar"  (medal  in  honour  of  Louis  XIV.,  1004)  ....  50 
Screen  for  the  Dauphin  (with  a  device  in  honour  of  the  King)  ....  50 
Large  vase   on  the  terrace  at  Versailles  with   the  arms  of  the  Sun-King  (the  work 

of  Dugoulon  and  Drouilly)     ..........  01 

Ballet  of  the  giants  and   dwarfs  at  the  Court  of  Louis  XIV.   (from  a  print  of  the 

period). 

The  Court  in  the  Arc  de  Triomphe   Grove,  Versailles  Park   (from  a  drawing  of  the 

period. — Musée  de  Versailles)  .......  .55 

The  details  of  a  courtier's  attire   (from  a  contemporary  engraving  La  Garde  robe  des 

homines)  ^ 

The  King's  charity  (medal  by  Mauger,  1662).        .......  57 

A   writing-table  of    the  seventeenth   century    (obtained  from   the   Mobilier  National. 

Garde-Meuble  collection)         .         .         .         ■         •         •         •         ■         •  .01 

xiii 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The  "  Cadenas  "  or  table  dressing-case  of  Louis  XIV.  (from  a  drawing  in  the  Cabinet 

of  Prints.— Cotte  collection)   .        .        .  58 

Fragment  of  the  clock  in  the  King's  cabinet  at  the  Château  de  Versailles  (the  work 

of  Morand  de  Pontdevaux     ..........  58 

Marble  statue  of   Louis  XIV.,  by  Jean  Warin.      (In  the  Salon  de  Venus. — Musée 

de  Versailles)  59 

Knife,  spoon    and  fork  used  by  Louis  XIV.   (from  a  drawing  in  the  Cabinet  of 

Prints. — Cotte  collection)        ..........  60 

Gold  watch  of  the  seventeenth  century  (from  the  collection  of  M.  Charles  Rossigneux)  60 
Gold    watch-case   of   the   seventeenth   century   (from   the  collection   of    M.  Charles 

Rossigneux)  .............  61 

Clock   of  the  seventeenth  century   (from  the  collection  in  the  Mobilier  National. — 

Chateau  de  Fontainebleau)      .        .        .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .61 

Top  of  a  chest  of  drawers,  by  Boulle  (from  the  collection  at  the  Mobilier  National. — 

Chateau  de  Fontainebleau)      ..........  62 

Louis  XIV.     Marble  bust  by  Coysevox.    (Musée  de  Versailles)       .         .         .  .63 

An  arm-chair  of  the  seventeenth  century  (from  the  collection  of  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)  63 
Louvois  (from  the  portrait  by  A.  Lefebvre)   ........  64 

A  medal  by  Faltz  in  honour  of  the  King's  councils        .         .         .         .         .  .65 

Pyramid   erected    in   Rome  in   memory   of    the   satisfaction   made   by   the   Pope  to 

Louis  XIV.  in  the  Corsican  matter         ........  65 

The  Pre-eminence  of  France  acknowledged  by  Spain.     (Marble  vase  by  Coysevox. — 

Terrace,  Versailles)        .        .        .        .         .         .         .        .         .         .  .66 

Vase  and  dishes  of  gold  and  silver  for  the  decoration  of  the  apartments  (from  the 

picture  of  the  baptism  of  the  Dauphin  by  Christophe. — Musée  de  Versailles)       .  69 
Silver    portable    stand    (brancard).      (From    the    picture    by    Lebrun   and    Sève  of 

Louis  XIV.  aux  Gobelins. — Musée  de  Versailles)        .         .         .         .         .  .69 

Door  giving  access  to  the  Ambassadors'  staircase  in  the  King's  apartment  (Château 

de  Versailles)       ............  70 

A  fixed  stool  (from  a  print  in  the  Hennin  collection)     .         .         .         .         .  .71 

A  folding  stool  (from  the  collection  of  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)  .         .         .         .  .71 

A  golden  ewer  (cart  i  by  Lebrun,  Château  de  Fontainebleau. — Musée  de  Versailles)  72 

Silver  vase  (cartoon  by  Lebrun,  Château  de  Madrid.-  Musée  de  Versailles)  .  .  72 
Silver  orange-tree  casket  embellished  with  gold  and  precious  stones  .  .  .  .72 
The  King's  footmen  carrying  the  collation  on  a  portable  stand   (cartoon  by  Lebrun, 

Château  des  Tuileries.  Series  of  The  Seasons. — Musée  du  Louvre)  .  .  .73 
A   boat   of    gold    and   lapis-lazuli,  with    the    1.-1.    interlaced    (cartoon  by  Lebrun. — 

Louvre)  73 

Onyx  vase  (Gallery  of  Mirrors.    Château  de  Versailles)  74 

Gold  perfume-burner  (after  the  picture  by  Hallé,  La  Réception  du  Doge  de  Gênes.— 
Musée  de  Versailles)  ...... 

The  Princess  Palatine,    Duchesse  d'Orléans,  mother  of  the  Regent  (from  the  portrait 
by  Higaud. — Musée  de  Versailles)  ...... 

Grotesque    masks  and  costumes  for  the  ballet  of   1682  at  Versailles  (drawing  and 

plan  of  execution  by  Bérain,  from  a  MS.  in  the  Versailles  Library)  . 
Costume   for   the   ballet   of    1682   at  Versailles    (drawing  and   plan   of   execution  by 

Bérain,  from  a  MS.  in  the  Versailles  Library)  

Small  door  of  the  Chapel  in  the  Château  de  Versailles   78 

Mask  bv  Bérain  (ballet  of  1 682.— Versailles  Library)     .        ...  81 
Chair  that    belonged  to  the  Maréchale  de  Villars  (..ne  of  six  in  the  collection  of 

Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)   .....  go 

xiv 


YD 


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1  1 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


A  seventeenth  century  candlestick  (Gucrin  collection)     ......  83 

Golden    vase  (from  a  cartoon  by  Lebrun,  Palais  Royal.      Series  of   The  Seasons. — 

Musée  de  Versailles)     ...........  87 

A  mantel  slab  in   the  Salon  d'Hercule  (Chateau  de  Versailles)        .         .         .  .87 

Fragment  of  the  woodwork  and  the  carved  frame  of  the  panels  of  the  King's  room 

in  the  Chateau  de  Versailles  ..........  88 

The  costume  of  a  Lieutenant  of  the  King's  Guard  (fashion  print  by  Bonnart)  .  88 
The  toilet  of  a  lady  of  quality  (from  an  engraving  by  Saint-Jean)  .  .  .89 
A  lady  of  quality  at  her  toilet  :  Mary  Anne  Stuart,  Queen  of  England  (after  a  print 

by  Bonnart)  90 

A  courtier  in  summer  habit  (from  a  print  of  the  time)  .         .         .         .         .  .90 

Reception    by   the  King  at  Versailles  of  the  Knights  of   the  Order  of  Saint-Louis 
(Musée  de  Versailles.    This  sketch  of  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. 
exactly  represents  the  King's  chamber)    .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .91 

A  gold  ewer  (from  the  cartoon  by  Lebrun.      Château  de  Madrid.     Series  of  The 

Seasons. — Musée  de  Versailles)        .........  92 

Cresset  in  bronze,  by  Lehongre,  in  the  "Bosquet"  (Gardens  of  Versailles)       .         .  92 
Louis  XIV.  receiving,   with  the  Princess  Palatine  and  Madame  de  Maintenon,  the 
Electoral   Prince  of  Saxony  at  Fontainebleau  (from  a  painting  by  Louis  Silvestre 
at  Versailles.      A  replica  is  in  the  palace  at  Dresden)     .         .         .         .  .93 

New  device  in  honour  of  the  Sun-King        ........  94 

Louis  XIV.  converses  with  the  Muses  (allegorical  print  by  S.  Leclerc)  .  .  .94 
The  most  Christian  Hercules  (allegorical  print  in  praise  of  Louis  XIV.)  .  .  95 
Louis   XIV.  teaches  the  Dauphin  to  patronise  arts  and  letters.      Allegorical  concert 

of  the  Muses  to  the  Royal  family  (from  an  almanac  of  the  period,  1667)  .  .  97 
Medal    struck  on  the  occasion  of    the   establishment    of    the  Academy    of  Science, 


III.    The  Reign  at  its  Apogee:   the  Manners  and  Habits  of  the 
King  and  the  Court. 

The  arms  of  the  Kin-  borne  by  the  Loves  (heading  by  Chauveau  from  the  Recueil 
des  ,  ourses  de  tries  et  de  ba<jnrs,  from  the  Imprimerie  Royale.  From  the 
illuminated   copy  in  the  Versailles  Library)  

Group  of  children  in  the  Allée  d'Eau  (Gardens  of  Versailles)  .         .  . 

The  colonnade  of  the  Louvre,  elevation  of  the  principal  front  (front  and  plans  from 
the  designs  of  Claud  Perrault,  1665 

A  nocturnal  fête  on  the  Grand  Canal  at  Versailles  in  1674  (from  a  print  by  Israel 
Silvestre)  

Mademoiselle  de  la  Valliere  (by  Jean  Noeret.  -Musée  de  Versailles)        .        .        .  102 

Mademoiselle  de  la  Yalliére  as  Diana  (from  an  anonymous  painting  in  the  Musée 
de  Versailles) 

A  reliquary  said  to  have  been  put  together  by  Madame  de  la  Valliere  (from  the 

collection  of  Baron  Jéréme  Pichon). 

Madame  de  Montespan  (by  Netscher  and  V.  Meurs)  

"Alceste,"  by  Molière,  acted   before  the  King  in   the   marble  court  of  the  Chateau 

de  Versailles,  1674  (from  a  print  by  Lepautre)  • 

Mademoiselle  de   Montpensier  as  Minerva   (from  a  print  by  Poilly,  long  supposed  to 

be  a  portrait  of  Madame  de  Longueville  by  the  same  artist)  .... 
The  funeral  of  Mademoiselle  de  Montpensier  . 

xv 


99 
99 

100 

101 


103 

104 
10Ô 

lot; 

109 
110 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Madame  de  Montespan  as  Tris  (from  an  anonymous  painting  in  the  Musée  de  Versailles)  113 
Louis   XIV.   in   armour,  with  the  ribbon  of  the  Order  of  Saint-Louis  (anonymous 

portrait  in  the  Musée  de  Versailles)        .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .115 

Louis  Auguste  de  Bourbon,  Duc  du  Maine  (from  a  print  by  Dieu  and  Lepautre)      .  116 
A  state  coach  of  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  (Hennin  collection)  .         .         .  .117 

Chest  of  drawers,  time  of  Louis  XIV.  (Mobilier  National.  —  Château  de  Fontainebleau)  119 
A  table  of  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  (Mobilier  National. — Chateau  de  Fontainebleau)  120 
Chimney  back  and  dogs  of  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  (Chateau   de  Fontainebleau. — 

Salon  François  1er)  121 

The  Vicomte  de  Turenne  (portrait  sketch  by  Lebrun. — Musée  de  Versailles)  .  .  122 
The    Loves    weeping  around    the    coffin    of    Henrietta    of    England    (composition  by 

Lepautre,  June  30,  1665)   125 

The  Civil  Lieutenant  d'Aubray,  father  of  Madame  de  Brinvilliers  (portrait  from  life 

by  Nanteuil)  126 

The  portrait,  the  crimes,  and  the  sorceries  of  La  Voisin  (a  popular  print,  February  22, 

1680)   127 

The  (lemon  of  money  (popular  satire  on  the  needs  of  the  time,  1680)  .  .  .  128 
Voisin  between  Death  and  the  Devil  (composition  by  Coypel).  ....  129 
A  gipsy  telling  his  fortune  to  a  soldier  (from  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc,  taken  from  Les 

eondit ions  de  la  vie  humaine)  ..........  130 

A  criminal  going  to  execution  (from  a  contemporary  drawing)          .         .         .  .131 

Marie    Louise   d'Orléans,   daughter  of   Monsieur,   Queen   of   Spain   (from   a  print  by 

Vischer)  132 

Composition  by  Bérain  for  a  funeral  ceremony        .         .         .         .         .         .         .  133 

The    Royal   Palace   of   Versailles   in  1674  :  principal   front   (from  a  print  by  Israel 

Silvestre)  134 

Fan  representing  a  water  fête  on  the  Grand  Canal  at  Versailles  (in  the  time  of  the 

favour  of  Madame  de  Maintenon)  .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  .130 

Love  at  the  Chateau  (composition  by  Leclerc  for  the  Lorraine  series)  .  .  .  135 
Louis  XIV.  at   the  feet  of   Mademoiselle   de   Fontagnes   (from  a  satirical   print  early 

in  the  eighteenth  century)      .        .         .        .         .         .         .         .         .  .136 

•lean   Baptiste  de  Colbert,  Marquis  de  Seignelay,  Minister  Secretary  of  State  (portrait 

by  Cl.  Lefebvre. — Musée  de  Versailles)    ........  137 

The  Château  de  Versailles  in  1674   (south  front   Orangery   Terrace  and   Pièce  d'Eau 

des  Suisses.    From  a  print  by  Israel  Silvestre)         ......  138 

Ballet  of  "  La  Jeunesse,"  1680  (one  of  the  last  danced  in  the  Gardens  of  Versailles. 

From  a  print  in  the  Hennin  collection)  ........  139 

A  Louis  XIV.  Salon  (from  La  Mode  aux  Escrans  -an  enigmatical  engraving  on  the 

use  of  the  hand-screen)  .        .        .        .        .        .         .         .         .         .  .140 

The  royal  lottery  in  1679:  the  courtiers  playing  (Cabinet  of  Prints)  .  .  .  143 
The  large  chapel  of  the  Chateau  de  Versailles  (from  a  print  representing  a  ceremony 

of   the    Chevaliers   du  Saint-Esprit,    1689.—  This   chapel   was  in  the  space  now 

occupied  by  the  Salon  d'Hercule,  and  was  abolished  when  Louis  XIV.  built  the 

new  church.  Prom  a  print  in  the  Hennin  collection)  .....  144 
Life  at   the  Court,   1694  :  the   Royal   family  at  a  concert   (print  by  Trouvain  in  the 

series  of  the  Appartenant*  Royaux)  ........  145 

Life  at  the  Court:  the  King's  children  at  the  game  of  "  Trou-Madame  "  (pigeon-holes) 

(print  by  Trouvain)      ...........  145 

The  baptism  of  the  Duc  de  Bourgogne  (from  an  engraving  by  Larmessin)  .  .  146 
Life  at   the  Court  :   the  Kind's  children  at  collation  (print  by  Trouvain  in  the  series 

of  the  Appartements  Royaux)  ..........  149 

xvi 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


"Demoiselles  de  Saint-Cyr  "  in  168G  :  pupils  in  the  third  class  (from  an  engraving 

by  Bonnart)         .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  150 

"Dame  Religieuse"  of  Saint-Cyr  (from  a  print  by  Bonnart)    .         .         .         .  .151 

The   village   wedding  :    ball  and  masquerade  danced  at  Versailles   by    the  Grand 

Dauphin  and  the  courtiers  in  1683  (from  a  print  of  the  period)  .  .  .152 
The   Grand    Dauphin   and   his   family   (copy   by   Delutel   (1692)   of   the  picture  by 

Mignard  at  the  Louvre.  Musée  de  Versailles — the  Queen's  guard-room)  .  .  155 
Print  in  honour  of  Louis  XIV.  (the  virtues  are  the  rays  of   the  King,  "  who  on  the 

earth  is  radiant  like  the  sun  in  the  skies')      .         .         .         .         .         .  .156 

Louis  XIV.  all-powerful  on  land  and  on  sea  (from  an  allegorical  print  by  Chevardi).  156 
The  Grand   Dauphin   (medallion  from   the  little  figure  in  wax  belonging  to  Baron 

Jérôme  Pichon)     .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  .157 

The  Duc  de  Bourgogne  in  the  arms  of  his  nurse  (from  a  popular  print)  .  .  .157 
Louis  XIV.  in  1698,  surrounded  by  all  the  members  of  his  family  (print  by  Mariette 

for  an  almanac.  "The  glorious  and  flourishing  state  of  the  family  of  France")  .  158 
The   Duchess  de    Bourgogne    (marble    bust    by   Coysevox,    from    nature. — Musée  de 

Versailles)  159 

The  Duchess  de  Bourgogne  (from  a  gold  medal,  1701)    .        .        .        .        .  .159 

The  Duchess  de  Bourgogne   as  a  huntress  (marble   statue  by  Coysevox. — Musée  du 

Louvre)         .        .        .        .        •        •        •        •        •        •        •        •  .159 

The  fashionable  doctor  in  his  consulting-room  (from  an  almanac  of  the  time)  .  .160 
An  alchemist's  laboratory  in  the  seventeenth  century  (from  a  print  taken  from  Illustres 

Proverbes  by  Lagniet)  .  .  .  .  .  •  •  •  •  •  .162 
Guy  Patin,  a  type  of  the  Paris  doctor  (from  a  print  by  Masson)  .  .  .  .162 
Card  of  invitation  to  a  funeral  in  the  seventeenth  century  (Cabinet  of  Prints,  Hennin 

ICQ 

collection)     .        .        .        .        •        •        •        ■        •        •        ■        •  ■ 


IV. — The  Decline  of  the  Reign  :  the  King's  Old  Age  and  Death. 

Wisdom  triumphs  over  Destiny  (from  a  composition  and  engraving  by  Regnesson)      .  165 
Louis  XIV.  in  1690  (from  a  silver  crown,  with  the  eight  Ls  crowned)     .         .         .  165 
From  the  satirical  Dutch  caricature,   "Tel  homme,  tel  discours."— La  Fin  des  Bois 

orgueilleux     .        .        .        •        •        •        •        •        •        •        •        •        -  166 

Louis  XIV.   in  old   age   (from   the  wax   medallion  by  Benoist,  in  the  King's  bed- 
chamber, Chateau  de  Versailles)      .        .        .        •        •        •        •        •  .16/ 

The  education  of  the  Children  of  France  (aquatint  engraving.— Cabinet  of  Prints)  .  167 
Excesses  committed  by  the   French  in  the  Palatinate  (satirical  Dutch  print  on  the 

•■\t       \  ....  168 

evils  of  war). 

Lace  coverlet  of  the  bed  of  Louis  XIV.  still  in  its  place  (Château  de  Versailles)  .171 
Dutch  caricature  :   Louis  XIV.  dying  in  the  arms  of  priests  and  women  (Cabinet  of 

Prints)    J71 

Louis  XIV.  lying  in  state  (from  a  popular  print  of  1715)  .        •        •  -172 

Fac-simile  of  the  memorial  tablet  of  Louis  XIV.  at  Saint-Denis  .  .  .  .173 
Funeral  of  Louis  XIV.  at  Saint-Denis  (from  an  engraving  of  the  period)  .  .173 

The  "  Galerie  des  Glaces  "  at  Versailles,  as  it  was  at  the  most  glorious  period  of  the 

reign  (from  a  print  by  Sébastien  Leclerc)  .  .  •  •  •  •  .174 
Balustrade  in  carved  and  gilded  wood  in  front  of  the  bed  of  Louis  XIV.  (Château 

de  Versailles.— The  King's  bedchamber  177 

Louis  XIV.  impresses  the  seal  (from  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc)  17? 

Audience  given  by  the   King  to  the  ambassadors  from  Siain  (from  a  contemporary 

print  published  by  Nolin)       .        .        •        •        •        ■  '        '  -178 

a  4 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

.  181 


Louis  XIV.  in  armour  (from  a  portrait  by  Rigaud.— Musée  de  Versailles) 
French   courtesy   (frontispiece  of  a   book  published   under  this  title  in  Germany,  in 

,  loi 

The  joy  of  the  French  in  the  restoration  of  peace  under  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. 

(from  an  almanac  of  the  time)        .        •        •        •        •        •        •        ■  .182 

The  Due  d'Aumale  declared  King  of  Spain  by  Louis  XIV.   (from  an  almanac  of 

1701)  •        •        •        •        •        •        •        •        *        '        "  -183 

Cabinet  by  Boulle  (Mobilier  National,  Château  de  Fontainebleau)     .        .        .  .185 

An  officer  who  was  not  a  courtier.     Le  sieur  Jean  Bart   (Admiral)   (from  a  popular 

print  by  Bonnart  .,.-••"••*•*-■ 
The  ball-room  in  the  gardens  of  Versailles,  constructed  in  1680  (drawn  by  Bondier 

from  Nature)  189 

Marble  vase  (Gardens  of  Versailles)  190 

The  usurped  coat.    Louis  XIV.  dressed  in  the  strongholds  he  had  conquered  (from  a 

Dutch  caricature  of  1693)  •         •  .191 

The  Bibliothèque  Royale  of  Paris  (medallion  of  an  almanac  of  1670)  .  .  .192 
Louis  XIV.  and  the  Court  ladies  going  to  receive  the  homage  of  Strasburg  (fragment 

of  an  almanac  of  the  time)  192 
Halberd  No.  90  of  the  Scotch  Guard  of  Louis  XIV.,  with  the  arms  of  the  Sun-King 

(collection  of  M.  Charles  de  Rossigneux)  .  .  .  .  .  •  .193 
The  colonnade  of  the  Louvre  during  its  construction  (from  a  print  by  Leclerc).         .  194 


LOUIS  XIV.  AND  HIS  MINISTERS. 

I. — The  Internal  Government  of  France. — Justice. — Commerce. — Police. — 
Laws. — Military  Discipline. — The  Navy,  Etc. 

Louis  XIV.   giving  orders   to  his  ministers  in  his    cabinet  at  Versailles.    Fide  et 

obsequio  (composition  by  Sébastien  Leclerc)       .......  197 

Reverse  of  medal  of  1680  (medal  for  La  Levée  des  Matelots,  engraved  by  Molart)     .  197 
The  King  giving  audience  to  his  subjects  (from  a  popular  print  of  1667)  .  .198 

Société    des    Marchands    (coin   engraved   by    Mauger,    1664,    to    commemorate  the 

foundation  of  Compagnie  des  Indes)         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .199 

Sister  of  Charity  carrying  succour  to  the  wounded  (from  a  print  by  Bonnart)  .         .  199 
The  spider  and  the  ny  (satirical  print  by  Lagniet  on  the  idleness  of  the  nobles)        .  200 
The  French  trader  (from  Leclerc  :  Conditions  de  la  vie  humaine)       ....  201 

A  fête  at  the  Gobelins  in  honour  of  Lebrun  (from  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc,  which 

represents  the  manufactory  in  1676)        ........  202 

Costumes  of  men  and  women  of  the  seventeenth  century  (from  a  print  of  the  period: 

Fashion  triumphant  in  the  Place  du  Change)  .......  205 

Coin  engraved  by  Molart  in  honour  of  the  aggrandisement  of  Paris  (1670)  .  .  206 
The  clock-maker  (print  by  Bonnart.  Clockwork  articles  of  the  seventeenth  century).  206 
The  mirror-maker  (print  by  Bonnart.  The  costume  is  made  of  glasses,  lustres,  etc.).  207 
The  new  police  established  in  Paris  by  La  Regnie  (from  an  anonymous  print  of  the 

period)  208 

An  old  street  in  Paris  :    La  Rue  aux  Ours  in  the  seventeenth  century  (from  an 

engraving  by  Lepautre,  1661)   208 

Allegorical  print  by  Mellan  in  honour  of  the  publication  of  the  code  of  Louis  XIV.  211 

xviii 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


l'AGE 


Paris  in  the  seventeenth  century  (view  of  the  Pont-Neuf,  by  Israel  Silvestre)  .  .212 
La  Samaritaine  (Paris  at  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  paved  streets,  coaches 

in  circulation.    From  a  print  of  1712)  .         .         .         .         .         .         .  212 

Fencing  (from  a  print  of  the  time)       .........  213 

Duels  abolished  (medallion  by  Des  jardins. — Musée  du  Louvre)  .         .         .  .214 

A  duel  in  the  seventeenth  century  (armourer's  trade  mark.     Design  by  Simpol  and 

Lepautre)     .        .        .        .       ..        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  214 

Musketeer  using  his  powder-flask  ;    Grenadier  throwing  grenade  ;   Musketeer  fixing 
bayonet   (from  the  military  theory,  in  colour,  by  Manesson,  published  in  1715 
and  preserved  in  the  Versailles  Library).        .        .        .        .        .        .  .215 

Studies  of  horsemen  (from  a  design  by  Van  der  Meulen,  preserved  at  the  Gobelins)  .  216 
Pikeman  at  drill  (from  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc  in  Les  conditions  de  la  vie  humaine)      .  217 

The  Hôtel  des  Invalides  218 

The  King  giving  orders  for  the  fortification  of  the  frontiers  (from  a  print  of  1680)  .  218 
Medallion  :  establishment  of  cadet  companies  (design  by  Bérain. — June  22,  1682)     .  219 
French  artillery  in  action  (from  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc  :  Les  Guerres  de  Louis  XIV.  .  219 
Studies  of  horsemen  (from  a  drawing  by  Van  der  Meulen,  preserved  at  the  Gobelins)  220 
The  cross  of  Saint-Louis       .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  .221 

A  picture  of  military  life  (French  camp  in  the  seventeenth  century,  by  S.  Leclerc  : 

Les  Guerres  de  Louis  XIV. — 1672)  .........  222 

French  pikemen  attacking  a  fortress  (from  a  print  by  S.   Leclerc  :  Les  Guerres  de 

Louis  XIV. — Siege  of  Tom-nay)      .........  225 

French  fleet  in  battle  array  (from  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc  :  Les  Guerres  de  Louis  XIV. — 

Battle  of  Agouste,  1676)   226 

Portrait   of  Admiral   de   Ruyter  (by   Michel  Mmsyn,  from  engraving  in  National 

Library)  2i>7 

The  Paris  Arsenal  in  1684  (from  a  print  by  P.  P.  Sevin)  228 

France  rejoicing  at  the  restoration  of  peace  (from  a  contemporary  almanac)  .  .  231 
"  My  master  sees  everything,''   words  addressed  by  Lionne   to  a  foreign  ambassador 

(engraving  by  Lepautre)  232 
Law  :  from  a  satirical  print  (Cabinet  of  Prints. — Bibliothèque  Nationale)  .        .        .  233 
Bird's-eye  view  of  Marly  (from  an  engraving  of  the  time,  published  by  Baillieul)       .  237 
Statue  of    Louis   XIV.   at   Lyons,   by  Desjardins  (bus-reliefs  of  the  Rhône  and  the 
Saône,  by  Coustou.    The  statue  was  by  Desjardins.    Restoration  from  a  print  by 

Audran)   •  238 

The  execution  of  the  Chevalier  de  Rohan  (from  ;i  drawing  in  the  Cabinet  of  Prints)  239 
A   provincial  lady's  costume  in  the    seventeenth  century   (young  lady's  portrait  by 

Rethel.    From  a  print  by  Saint-Jean)  240 
The  hôtel  of   Madame   de   Beauvais,  Rue    Saint-Antoine,  Paris   (from   a  print  by 

Marot)  241 

The  fountains  of  the  Porte  Saint-Denis,  de  la  Charité,  and  des  Saints-Pères  in  Paris 

(print  by  Mariette,  1672)  .        .        .        •        •        •        •        •        •  242 

Teapot  of  red  copper  (from  the  collection  of  M.  Edmond  Guérin)     ....  243 

The  inner  court  of  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  of  Paris,  with  the  statue  of  Louis  XIV.  which 

was  erected  there  in  1687)  -jli0 
The  glory  of  Paris  and  the  splendour  of  its  bourgeois  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. 

(print  by  Jollain,  1692)   244 

Luxurious  life  in  the  seventeenth  century  (a  lady  reclining  on  a  tent-bedstead.  From 

a  print  by  Saint-Jean)  .        .  .        •        •        •  ■        ■        ■  24'^ 

The  Porte  Saint-Bernard,  opposite  the  île  de  Saint-Louis  (from  a  print  by  V.  Pérelle)  246 
Tapestry  screen—seventeenth  century  (Mobilier  National.— Fontainebleau) .        .        .  247 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Luxury  in  the  seventeenth  century  :   a  lady  of  quality  in  déshabillé  (from  a  print  by 

Saint-Jean)    .        .        .        •        •        •        ■        •        *         '  .  -48 

A  lady  of  the  bourgeoisie  in  walking  dress  (from  a  fashion-plate)  ....  249 
Blue  satin  bag  embroidered  in  gold  (from  the  collection  of  M.  Charles  Rossigneux  .  249 
View  of  Paris  from  the  Pont  de  la  Tournelle  :  the   Seine,  Notre  Dame,  and  the 

Gardens  of  l'île  du  Palais  (from  a  print  by  Pérolle  and  Mariette)    .         .  .250 

Medallion  in  honour  of  Louis  XIV.  (tail-piece  by  Poilly)  251 

The  Sergeant  (from  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc  in  the  Conditions  de  la  vie  humaine)  .         .  252 


II. — Finance. 

Pediment    of    the   new    Custom-house    at   Rouen  (allegorical  bas-relief  by  Coustou  : 

commerce  and  navigation)  253 
Ornamented  letter  (by  François  Chauveau)     ........  253 

Edouard  de  Colbert,  Marquis  de  Villacerf  (bust  by  Desjardins  in  the  Louvre)  .  .  254 
Stockjobbers  and  revenue-farmers  struck  by  the  lightning  of  the  royal  justice  (satirical 

print  of  1711)  257 

Tax-collector's  office  in  the  seventeenth  century.    Payment  of  poll-tax  (from  a  popular 

print  of  1709)      .   258 

Peasants  at  table  (after  a  painting  by  the  brothers  Le  Nain  in  the  Louvre)  .  .  259 
Monopolists  compelled  by  Justice  to  disgorge  their  corn,  and  Plenty  restored  to  France 

(satirical  print,  1695)   260 

Office  for  stamps  and  addresses  (almanac  of  1694  in  the  Hennin  collection)  .  .  261 
"  A  femme  désolée,  mari  joyeux,  trêve  à  la  bourse  du  mari  "  (satirical  print  on  the 

edict  of  Louis  XIV.  against  the  extravagance  of  women,  November  16th,  1700)  262 
The  French  peasants  aggrieved  by  compulsory   enlistment   (from  a  print    of  1705, 

representing  the  first  levy  of  militia)       ........  263 

The  miseries  of  war  :  violence  of  the  French  in  the  invasion  of  1672  (from  a  Dutch 

print)  264 

Solid  silver  couch,  with  the  arms  of  the  Sun-King  and  ornaments  in  goldsmith's  work 

(from  a  print  by  Saint-Jean,  representing  the  bath-room  of  a  lady  of  quality)     .  265 
The  French  peasant  forced  to  go  to  the  war  (a  Dutch  caricature)    ....  266 

Gold  coin  of  1644  (upper  side  of  the  louis)    ........  269 

The  great  Thomas,  Parisian  quack  and  dentist  :  his  triumphal  progress  amidst  his 

good  people  of  Paris  (from  an  anonymous  etching  in  the  Hennin  collection)  .  269 
The  great  winter  of  1709  (an  allegorical  print  of  the  period)  .....  270 
Cap  of  the  great  Thomas,  the  quack  of  the  Pont  Neuf  (from  a  print  of  the  period)  .  271 
"La  course  des  mitrons,"  or,  men  of  the  people  beaten  by  the  "grands  seigneurs"  on 

their  way  to  the  tournament  at  Versailles  (popular  caricature)  .  .  .  .271 
The  fashion  in  1678  :  lady  in  shooting  costume  (from  a  print  by  Boimart)  .  .  272 
Crown  piece  of  1705,  with  insignia  (écu  carambolé  de  Flandre)  ....  273 
Fashion  in  1678  :  lady  in  summer  dress  with  a  description  of  the  costume,  the  fan, 

and  the  cane        .............  273 

Crown  piece  of  1709  with  three  crowns  (obverse)    .......  273 

Fashion  in  1(578  :  a  man  in  winter  costume  (print  by  Bonnart)       .        .        .        .  274 

The  villager  or  peasant  who  is  born  to  labour  :  "  He  is  despised  and  necessary."  His 

object  :  "  Tax  paid  "  (from  a  satirical  print  by  Guérard)  275 

The  powdered  pug  (satirical  print  on  the  fashion  in  wigs)  .  .  .  .  .276 
An  interior  in  the  seventeenth  century  :  man  and   woman  in  déshabillé  (from  an 

anonymous  print  in  Hennin's  collection)   277 

xx 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

TACK 

Homely  simplicity   restored  to  the  household  by  the   "  Racine   de  hola  !  "    or  the 

husbands'  stick  (fragment  of  an  almanac)         .......  279 

Field  work  (from  the  picture  by  the  brothers  Le  Nain,  Hay  Harvest. — Musée  du 

Louvre)  280 


ARTS,   LETTERS  AND  SCIENCES. 
I. — Sciences. 

Frieze  in  gilt  stucco  from  the   Salon  de  l'Œil-de-Bœuf  (Chateau  de   Versailles. — 

Carving  by  Van  Clève)  283 

Ornamental  letter  by  Fr.  Chauveau       .........  283 

Portrait  of  Descartes  by  S.  Bourdon  (Musée  du  Louvre)         .....  284 

Louis   XIV.   visiting  the  Museum  of  Natural  History  and  the  Academy  of  Sciences 

(from  an  engraving  by  Sébastien  Leclerc)        .......  285 

Giovanni  Domenico  Cassini  (1625-1712)  (from  an  engraving  by  Cossin)  .  .  .  286 
Medal  commemorative  of  the  foundation  of  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  Medals  : 

"  Rerum  gestarum  fides  287 
A  sitting  in  a  chemical  laboratory  :  chemistry  at  the  Academy  of  Sciences  in  the 

seventeenth  century  (engraving  by  S.  Leclerc  in  Mémoires  pour  servir  à  l'histoire 

des  plantes,  by  Dodart)  ...........  287 

A  litter  of  rats  tied  by  the  tail  (a  great  wonder  that  occurred  in  Germany  in  1686, 

and  is  accredited  by  a  popular  print)      ........  288 

Pierre  Gassend,  called  Gassendi  (1592-1655)  mathematician  and  philosopher  (medallion 

by  Varin,  in  the  collection  of  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)  .....  289 
A  criticism  on  the  fashions  ...........  290 


II.  LlTERATUKE. 

From  a  composition  by  S.  Leclerc  in  the  series  called  "The  Lorraine"  .  .  .291 
Ornamental  letter  by  Fr.  Chauveau  (for  the  collection  of  Courses  de  têtes  et  de  bagues, 

of  the  Imprimerie  Boyale)  .  .  .  .  .  •  •  •  •  .291 
A  sitting  of  the  Académie  Française  recently  installed  at  the  Louvre  .  .  .  292 
Conrart,  the  founder  of  the  Académie  Française  (portrait  by  Lefebvre,  engraved  by 

Cossin)  293 
A  rondeau  to  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  placed  at  the  end  of  the  introduction  to  one  of 

the  early  editions  of  the  "Lettres  Provinciales"  (Cologne,  1657)  .  .  .  294 
A  sermon  in  the  seventeenth  century  :  the  Capuchin  (from  a  print  by  Lepautre)  .  295 
J.  B.  Bossuet  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  (from  the  original  by  Rigaud,  engraved  by 

Sarrabat)  296 

Bourdaloue  at  prayer  (from  the  painting  by  Jouvenet,  engraved  by  Rôssler)  .  .  297 
First  page  of  the  first  edition   of   "  Télémaque,"  which  appeared  under  the  title  : 

"  Suite  de  l'Odyssée  d'Homère  298 
Frontispiece  of  the  first  complete  edition  of  "  Télémaque,"  published  in  1717  by  the 

Marquis  de  Fénelon  (print  by  Bailleul  and  Duflos)  . 
Georges  de  Scudéry  (from  a  print  by  Desrochers)  . 
Pierre  Corneille  (from  the  original  portrait  by  Lebrun)  . 
Molière  (from  the  original  portrait  by  Mignard,  which  belonge 

Chateau  de  Chantilly) 

xxi 


1  to  the  Due  d'Auinale, 


299 
300 
301 

302 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


303 
303 


The  Great  Condé  (from  a  medal  by  Chéron,  face)  

The  triumphs  of  the  Great  Condé  (same  medal,  reverse)  

The  Great  Condé  (bronze  bust  by  Coysevox.— Musée  du  Louvre)  .  .  .  .303 
A  dish  in  Parisian  earthenware,  representing,  from  the  romance  by  Francion,  a  scene 

of  Parisian  life,  Place  Maubert  (collection  of  M.  Charles  Rossigneux)         .         .  304 

Boileau  Despréaux,  by  H.  Rigaud  (Musée  de  Versailles)  305 

The  Muse   of  History   writing    the    life  of   Louis   XIV.   (bas-relief  in  marble  by 

Rousselet. — Musée  du  Louvre)  306 
Chancellor  Séguier,  patron  of  the  Académie  Française  (from  a  print  by  Sébastien 

Leclerc)   307 

Louis  XIV.  patronises  Art  and  Science  (a  print  by  Watelé  and  Edelinck)  .  .  308 
Tailpiece  from  the  Collection  of  Frontispieces  of  the  Seventeenth  Century  (from  the 

Cabinet  of  Prints,  Bibliothèque  Nationale)  309 

The  Loves  as  sculptors  and  architects  (an  allegorical  engraving  for  the  Academy  of 

Sculpture)    .        .        .        .        •        •        •        •        •        •        ■  •  310 


III.— The  Fixe  Arts. 

The  Cascade  or  the  Baths  of  Diana  (bas-relief  by  Girardon.     Bronze  gilt.— Gardens 

of  Versailles)  311 

Ornamental  letter  by  Fr.  Chauveau  (from  the  collection  of  Courses  de  (êtes  et  de  bagues 

from  the  Imprimerie  Royale)  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .311 

A  harpsichord  of  the  seventeenth  century  (from  a  print  by  Bonnart)  .  .  .312 
A  satirical  print  of  1664  on  the  constitution  of  the  Académie  des  Beaux-Arts,  which 

replaced  the  former  Académie  des  Maîtres  Peintres  on  September  10th  .  .313 
A  composition   by  S.   Leclerc   in  honour  of   the  foundation  of   the  academies  by 

Louis  XIV  313 

Louis  XIV.  visiting  one  of  the  first  exhibitions  of  painting  at  the  Gobelins,  1699 

(print  by  Sébastien  Leclerc)  .         .         .         .         .        .         .         .         .  .314 

A  children's  bacchanalia  (bronze  vase  on  the  terrace  of  the  Château  de  Versailles, 

cast  by  Duval,  and  carved  by  Ballin)     .        .         .         .         .         .         .  .314 

The  erection  of  the  statue  of  Louis  XIV.  at  Lyons  (from  a  print  of  the  period)  .  317 
Ancient  torchstand  in  the  chamber  of  Louis  XIV.,  Château  de  Versailles  .  .  317 
Emblematic  device  of  the  surgeons  of  Paris  (fragment  of  an  almanac)  .  .  .318 
Louis  XIV.  victor  in   the  war  with  Holland  (marble  vase  on  the  terrace  of  the 

Château  de  Versailles,  sculptured  by  Tuby)      .         .         .         .         .         .  .318 

The  Rape  of  Proserpine  (a  composition  by   Lebrun  for  the  Bouquet  de  la  Colonnade, 

executed  by  Girardon. — Gardens  of  Versailles).         .         .         .         .         .  .321 

A  concert  by   children   (fragment  of  a  picture  of  the  school   of   Lély. — Musée  de 

Versailles)    ..............  321 

Damon,  a  "grand  seigneur,"  playing  the  viol  (from  a  print  by  Bonnart)  .         .  322 

Urania,  a  lady  of  quality,  singing  (from  a  print  by  Bonnart)  ....  323 

The  dancing  master  (from  a  print  by  Bonnart)      .         .         .         .         .         .  .324 

The  aldermen  of  Paris  (by  Philippe  de  Champaigne. — Musée  du  Louvre)  .  .  .  325 
The  Rhône  (bronze  statue  by   Coustou,  which  decorated  the  base   of  the  statue  of 

Louis  XIV.  at  Lyons.  —Hôtel  de  Ville,  Lyons)        ......  326 

Nymph  with  a  shell  (marble  figure  by  Coysevox.— Musée  du  Louvre)        .         .  .326 
The  Saône  (bronze  statue  by  Coustou,  decorating  the  base  of  the  statue  of  Louis  XIV. 

at  Lyons.— Hôtel  de  Ville,  Lyons)         ........  327 

xxii 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAOE 


A  lion  striking  down  a  wolf  (bronze  group  by  Van  Clève  for  the  Fountain  of  Diana 

in  the  gardens  of  Versailles)  .....  327 

A  female  faun,  marble  bust  attributed  to  Sarrasin  (collection  of  Madame  Moreau 

Nélaton)  „'...„  22g 

Antoine  Coysevox  (from  the  portrait  by  G.  AUou.— Musée  de  Versailles)  .        .  329 

Pierre  Puget,  by  himself  (Museum  of  Aix)   339 

Candle-bracket  from  the  Palace  of  Versailles  (collection  of  M.  Charles  Rossigneux)    .  331 

Cabinet  by  Boulle  (from  a  design  by  Bérain. — Musée  du  Louvre)     ....  331 

Doorway  of  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  at  Toulon,  by  Pierre  Puget   332 

Jean  Varin  (from  a  portrait  attributed  to  Cl.  Lefebvre.— Musée  de  Versailles)          .  333 

Ice-bowl  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  carved  copper  (collection  of  M.  Edmond  Guérin)  333 
Porphyry  vase  (made  by  order  of  Louis   XIV.  after  the  melting  down  of  the  gold 

and  silver  plate  in  1709.— Musée  de  Versailles,  salle  des  Gardes  de  la  Reine)     .  334 


IV. — The   Fine   Arts   in  the   Time   of  Louis  XIV. 
The  arms  of  the  Dauphin   borne  by  Loves  (heading  by  Chauveau  for  the  collection 


of    Courses  de  têtes   et    de    bagues,   from    the    Imprimerie    Royale. — From  the 
illuminated  copy  in  the  Library  of  Versailles)  ......  335 

Ornamental  letter  in  honour  of  Louis  XIV.  (by  P.  P.  Sevin)  ....  335 

The  chaste  Susanna  (a  carving  in  ivory  attributed  to  Bernini. — Collection  of  Madame 

Moreau  Nélaton)  ............  336 

Portrait  of  John  Milton  (from  an  allegorical  picture  preserved   by  his  family  and 

engraved  in  the  eighteenth  century)        ........  337 

John  Dryden  (from  the  portrait  by  Kneller,  engraved  by  Edelinck)         .        .         .  338 
Addison  (from  the  portrait  by  Dahl,  engraved  by  Simon)        .....  339 

Jonathan  Swift  (painted  from  nature  by  Markham,  engraved  by  Burford)         .        .  340 
Halley  (from  the  portrait  by  Kneller,  engraved  by  White)      .....  341 

Sir  William  Temple  (portrait  by  Lely,  engraved  by  Houbroken)       ....  342 

Geometry  (marble  bust  by  Legros.  —  Musée  du  Louvre)    ......  343 

John  Locke  (from  the  portrait  by  Kneller,  engraved  by  Vertue)      ....  343 

Philip  Sydenham  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  (from  the  portrait  by  H<ese,  engraved  by 

Smith)  344 

Leibnitz  (from  an  anonymous  engraving  of  the  period)    ......  345 

Louis  XIV  (medal  belonging  to  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)   ......  345 

Scipio  Mallei  (from  the  drawing  and  engraving  by  Marcus  Pitteri)  ....  34G 


THE    CHURCH    AND  RELIGION. 

I. — Ecclesiastical  Affairs— Memorable  Disputes. 

The  Sorbonne  (from  a  print  by  Lepautre)      ........  349 

Mass  in  a  church  of  the  seventeenth  century  (print  by  Lepautre)    .        .        .  .349 

Mass  in  a  church  of  the  seventeenth  century  (from  a  print  by  Lepautre).        .        .  350 
An  abbé  wearing  a  cassock  (from  an  engraving  by  Bonnart)  .        .        .        .  .351 

Church   procession    in   the  seventeenth    century   (from   a  painting  by  the  brothers 

Le  Nain. — Musée  du  Louvre)         .........  o53 

Charity  (marble  bust  by  Legros  in  the  Louvre)      .......  354 

xxiii 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Bust  of  the  Virgin  (attributed  to  Sarrasin.— From  the  collection  of  Madame  Moreau 

Nélaton)  .355 

Chancellor  d'Aligre  enforcing  respect  to  the  King's  justice  (1674)  (from  a  print  of 

the  time)  356 

Allegorical  print  on  the  affair  of  the  "Regalia,"  1682   (anonymous  engraving  in  the 

Gallery  of  Engravings)  •  357 

Louis  XIV.  favours  Catholicism  by  receiving  King  James  at  Versailles  (from  a  Dutch 

print  in  the  Hennin  collection)       .........  359 

The  rights  of  the  "  Regalia  "  (from  a  print  by  Lepautre)  360 

Bronze  vessel  for  holy  water  used  by  Louis  XIV.,  seventeenth  century  (the  King's 

Chamber. — Château  de  Versailles)  .........  361 

Christ  (bust  by  Pierre  Puget.— Musée  de  Marseilles)  361 

Altar  vase  (collection  of  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)      .......  362 

Medallion  of  Louis  XIV.  by  Bertinetti  (collection  of  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon)      .  .364 

II. — Calvinism  in  the  Time  of  Louis  XIV. 

The  Flight  into  Egypt  (bas-relief  by  Sarrasin. — Musée  de  Versailles)  .  .  .  365 
Heresy  destroyed  (medallion  by  Desjardins. — Musée  du  Louvre)  ....  365 
Cruelties  committed  upon  the  Vaudois  (a  Dutch  satire,  from  a  contemporary  print)  .  367 
Principal  points  of  the  Catholic  Faith  (frontispiece  by  Mellan  for  the  treatise  by 

Cardinal  de  Richelieu  so  entitled)  .........  369 

Calvin  overthrown  by  true  religion  (fragment  of  an  almanac)  .         .         .         .  .371 

Hypochondriacs  (satirical  Dutch  print  against  the  sovereigns,  defenders  of  the  Catholic 

Faith)  373 

Bureau  de  Charité  where  aid  was  distributed  to  converted  protestants  (fragment  of 

almanac  of  1686)  ............  375 

Satirical  coloured  prints  on  sure  and  proper  means  of  bringing  back  protestants  to 

the  true  faith:  dragonnades,  the  galleys,  prisons,  the  wheel  and  the  stake  (Cabinet 

of  engravings)       ............  377 

Dutch  satirical  coloured  print  on  sure  and  honest  means  for  bringing  protestants  back 

to  the  true  faith  :  dragonnades,  galleys,  prisons,  wheels  and  stakes  .  .  .378 
The  fair  Constance  "  dragooned  "  by  Arlequin   Déodat  (Louis  XIV.)  (Dutch  allegory 

and  satire  upon  the  persecution  of  the  protestants)  .         .         .         .         .  .379 

Satirical  French  engraving  of  the  destruction  of  the  protestant  church  at  Charenton 

(Cabinet  of  Prints)        ...........  380 

Caricatures  in  black  of  the  King  and  Madame  de  Maintenon,  persecutors  of  pro- 
testantism (published  by  Peters)     .........  381 

Caricature   in   black    of   the    Archbishop    of    Rheims,    persecutor   of  protestantism 

(published  by  Peters)    ...........  382 

Pierre  Jurieu,  pastor  and  professor  of  theology  (from  the  portrait  by  Gole,  engraved 

by  Marot)  383 

"  Sic  itur  ad  astra,"— "  Cappa  omnia  tegit  "  (after  a  satirical  Dutch  print)  .  .  384 
The  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  :  proclaimed  by  Louis  XIV.  before  the  clergy 

of  France  (Dutch  picture)      .......  .  385 

The  flight  of  James  II.   (from  a  print  of  the  time,  done  in  Holland.— Cabinet  of 

Engravings)  ,  386 

Medal  struck  by  the  protestants  of  the  Cévennes   .......  389 

Le  Maréchal  de  Villars  (from  a  print  by  Rochefort)   390 

Dutch  caricature  upon  the  evil  influence  of  Madame  de  Maintenon  during  the  last 

years  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  .        .        .        .        ,        ,  .391 

xxiv 


LIST    OP  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  great  bell  of  Notre  Dame  de  Paris 
The  demolition  of  the  temple  at  Charenton 
Tailpiece  engraved  by  Sébastien  Leclerc 


III. — Janse 


ENISM. 


Composition  by  Lebrun  in  honour  of  Louis  XIV.  (engraved  by  S.  Leclerc)  .  397 
The  Pope  confides  39g 
The  Novitiate  and  the  house  of  the  Jesuit  professors  at  St.  Germain-des-Prés  (from 

a  print  by  Lepautre  and  Van  Merlen)  ....  399 
Corneille  Jansen,  Évêque  d'Ypres  (from  a  print  by  Morin)  .  .  400 
True    religion    triumphant    under   Louis    XTV.    (Picture   by    Lebrun,    engraved  by 

Edelinck)  401 
The  road  to  Heaven  (a  popular  print  of  the  Jansenist  party,  showing,  on  the  right, 

the  road  to  Paradise  for  the  elect,  on  the  left,  the  road  to  Hell  for  the  Jesuits 

and  their  partisans)       .......  402 

Pope  Innocent  X.  (from   the  portrait  by  Velasquez,  preserved  in  England,  engraved 

by  Green)  403 

A  Jansenist   satire   upon    the   Constitutions  of   the   Popes    (1661-1665)    (from  an 

engraving  in  the  Cabinet  of  Prints)        ......  403 

Defeat  of  the  Jansenists  by  the  Pope,  Religion,  and  Louis  XIV.  (after  an  almanac 

of  1653)  404 
Duvergier    Duhauranne,  Abbé    de   Saint-Cyran    (original    portrait    by    Philippe  de 

Champagne. — Musée  de  Versailles)  .........  405 

Nuns  in  Chapter. — The  Choir  of  Port-Royal  des  Champs  (copied  from  an  anonymous 

print)  ..............  405 

The  Sisters  of  Port-Royal  expelled  by  order  of  the  King  (from  a  print  of  the  time)  .  406 
The    Church  of    the   Monastery  of   the   Holy  Sacrament,   or   Port-Royal   of  Paris 

(Faubourg  Saint-Jacques)  (a  print  by  Marot)'.        ......  407 

Pascal  as  a  child  (from  an  original  drawing  by    Donnât,  found  in  a  corpus  juris 

in  his  library  by  his  son)      .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  .408 

Pascal  (from  an  anonymous  coloured  drawing,  which  might  be  attributed  to  Edelinck, 

in  the  Cabinet  of  Prints)       ..........  409 

Isaac  Louis  le  Maistre  de  Sacy,  1613-1684  (after  a  print  by  Van  Schuppen)    .        .  410 
Antoine  Le  Maître,  Attorney  to  the  Parliament,  1608-1653  (from  a  print  by  Lubin)  413 
Cardinal  Antoine  de  Nouilles  (after  an  anonymous  portrait  in  the  Musée  de  Versailles)  414 
Père  Quesnel  (a  portrait  by  Pitau)       .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  .415 

Time   chases    away    Tyranny,    Fraud,    and    Discord  :    The   Archbishop   of  Sébaste 

recognises  good  Jansenists  by  passing  them  through  a  sieve  (from  a  Jansenist 

print  of  1706)   416 

Père  de  La  Chaise  (from  a  print  by  Trouvain)       .        .        .        .        .        .  .417 

Cod  confounds  the  designs  of  the  proud  (a  Jansenist  print  by  Jardieu)    .        .        .  418 
A  description  of  the  land  of  Jansenism  (Cabinet  of  Prints)     .....  419 

Père  Michel  Le  Tellier  (from  a  portrait  by  Desrochers)  ......  420 

Madame   de    Maintenon   as    Saint    Frances   of    Rome    (original    portrait   by  Pierre 

Mignard. — Musée  de  Versailles)       .        .        .        .        .        .        .        •  .421 

A  satirical  composition  by  Jansenists  against  the  Constitutionalists  who  remain  in 

their  party  solely  for  the  sake  of  temporal  gain  (1713)  (Cabinet  of  Prints).        .  422 
Frontispiece   of    the   protest    of    Père    Quesnel   against    the   condemnation   of  his 

propositions  (Cabinet  of  Prints)       .........  423 

xxv  n  5 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

A  satirical  composition  by  the  Jansenists  against  the  Constitutionalists  who  are  kept 

in  their  party  by  the  love  of  wealth  only  (1713)  (Cabinet  of  Prints)          .         .  424 
Cardinal  Dubois  (from  the  portrait  by  Rigaud,  engraved  by  C.  Roy)      .         .  .425 
Monument  illustrative  of  the  folly  of  Law's  system  (from  a  Dutch  satire  of  the  time)  426 
Cardinal  de  Tencin  (from  the  portrait  by  Heilmann,  engraved  by  J.  G.  Wille)  .  .427 
The  Tomb  of  Blessed  François  de  Paris,  died   1st  May,    1717,  and  illustrious  for 

untold  miracles  (print  in  the  Series  of  Les  Miracles  du  Diacre  Paris)       .        .  428 
A  meeting  of  the  Jesuits  (fragment  of  an  almanac,  engraved  by  Lepautre)       .         .  429 
Le  Diacre  Paris  at  Prayer  (from  a  print  of  the  time)     ......  429 

The  Jesuits  (fragment  of  an  almanac,  engraved  by  Lepautre)    .....  429 

Fame  glorifying  Louis  XIV.  (composition  by  S.  Leclerc)     ......  430 


IV. — Quietism. 

The  glorious  arms  of  Louis  XIV.  (composition  by  Sébastien  Leclerc)  .  .  .431 
Madame  Guy  on  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years  (from  the  print  by  V.  Brcen)  .  .432 
François  de  Salignac  de  la  Mothe-Fénelon  (from  the  original  portrait  by  Joseph  Vivien. 

— Musée  de  Versailles)  ...........  433 

Godet  des  Marais,  Bishop  of  Chartres  (from  the  portrait  by  Paul  Bria,  engraved  by 

Crespy)        .............  435 

P.  de  Harlay  de  Chanvallon,  Archbishop  of  Paris  (from  a  portrait  by  Lenfant,  1671)  436 
Michel  Molinos  and  his  works  at  the  stake  (from  a  popular  print  of  the  time)  .  .437 
Madame  Guyon  with  the  features  of  the  Virgin,  "  to  whom  God  Himself  is  subject  " 

(composition  by  S.  Leclerc)     ..........  438 

The  Golden  Age  come  back  to  earth,  under  the  influence  of  the  Duc  de  Bourgogne, 

the  shepherd  of  the  people,  and  Madame  Guyon,  a  new  incarnation  of  the  Virgin 

(from  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc  and  F.  Silvestre)  .......  339 

A  Saint  and  a  Mystic  in  the  seventeenth  century  (Madame  Helyot)  .  .  .  441 
Abbé  Théodore,  of  Tour  d'Auvergne,  Duc  dAlbret  (Cardinal  Bouillon  in  his  youth, 

after  the  portrait  from  life  by  Nanteuil)        .......  442 

Fac-simile  of  the  Letter  of  Resignation  of  Cardinal  de  Bouillon  to  the  King  (in  the 

Cotte  Collection. — Cabinet  of  Prints)      ........  443 

Cardinal  de  Bouillon  between  Charity  and  Truth  (composition  by  Vernansal,  engraved 

by  Thomassin)      ............  445 

"  Lex  una  sub  uuo  "  (design  by  Leclerc)        .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .446 

Group  in  gilt  metal,  by  Masson  :  Loves  bearing  quivers  and  supporting  an  escutcheon 

with  the  King's  monogram  (staircase  leading  to  the  Queen's  ajiartinents — Château 

de  Versailles)  460 


The  Loves  laying  by  their  arms  (a  heading  by  François  Chauveau  for  the  collection 
of  the  Courses  de  têtes  et  de  bagues  in  the  Imprimerie  Royale)  .... 

Ornamented  letter  by  François  Chauveau  (from  the  collection  of  the  Courses  de  têtes 
et  de  bayues  at  the  Imprimerie  Royale)  ....... 

Roger  de  Bussy-Rabutin,  a  Colonel  (Maître  de  camp)  in  the  royal  army  (from  a  print 
in  the  Hennin  collection)  ...... 

The  Coronation  of  Louis  XIV.  (composition  and  print  by  S.  Leclerc) 

Louis  XIV.  in  1690  (from  a  silver  crown  with  the  eight  "  L's  "  crowned) 

xxvi 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Military  discipline  (a  medal  by  Mauger,  struck  for  the  establishment  of  the  Companies 


of  Cadets,  1665)   ............  iv 

Bossuet,  persecutor  of  protestants  (a  caricature  in  mezzotint)    .        .        .        .  iv 

Lou  vois,  persecutor  of  protestants  (a  caricature  in  mezzotint)   .        .        .        .        .  iv 

The  King,  a  beneficent  sun  (from  a  medal  by  Loir,  1660)       .        .        .        .        .  v 

Cardinal  Furstenberg  (a  caricature  in  mezzotint)     .......  v 

Lulli  and  his  orchestra  (from  a  print  by  Bonnart)           ......  vi 

The  peasant  at  his  plough  (from  a  coin  in  commemoration  of  the  capture  of  Cainbray, 

1677)  ..............  vii 

Tailpiece  engraved  by  Poilly  (Cabinet  of  Prints. — Bibliothèque  Nationale)  .  viii 
Frontispiece    of    the    seventeenth    century  (Hennin   collection,  Cabinet  of  Prints. — 

Bibliothèque  Nationale)          ..........  ix 

Ornamented  letter  (composition  and  engraving  by  S.  Leclerc)       ....  .xxvii 


XXVI  i 


ERRATUM 


The  reader  is  requested  to  substitute  "  revenue-farmers"  for  "partisans" 
when  the  latter  word  occurs  in  relation  to  the  finances  of  the  kingdom  of 
France  under  Louis  XIV. 


DECORATION  BV  LEBRUN,   EXECUTED  FOR  THE  AMBASSADORS'  STAIRCASE. 
(Cbâteau  de  Versailles.) 


* 


LOUIS  XIV.  AS  CONQUKROn  :    A  TRIBUTE  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  MAZARXN. 

(Print  by  Poilly,  1660.) 


1 

THE    PREFACE    TO    THE  REIGN: 
THE    YOUTH    AND    EDUCATION    OF    THE  KING. 


OUÏS  XIV.  made  his  Court  as  well  as 
his  reign  so  magnificent  and  brilliant 
that  the  smallest  details  of  his  life  seem  to 
interest  posterity,  even  as  they  aroused  the 
curiosity  of  all  the  Courts  of  Europe  and  all 
contemporaries.  The  splendour  of  his  rule 
extended  to  his  least  actions.  Readers  are  more 
eager,  especially  in  France,  to  learn  the  par- 
>f-i  4   ^4|jifv  ticularities   of  his    Court  than  the  revolutions 

>t  some  other  countries.  Such  is  the  effect 
of  great  reputation.  We  would  rather  learn 
what  went  on  in  the  cabinet  and  the  Court 
of  Augustus  than  the  details  of  the  con- 
quests of  Attila  or  Tamerlane. 

Therefore  have  all  the  historians  pub- 
lished the  early  love  affairs  of  Louis  XIV.  with  the  Baronne  de  Beauvais, 
and  Mademoiselle  d'Argencourt,  with  Cardinal  Mazarin's  niece— who  was 


FAME  ENTRUSTS  TO  TIME  THE  IMAGE  01 
LOUIS  XIV. 
(Group  by  Lebrun  and  Guldi.— Gardens] 
of  Versailles.) 


I  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV. 

married  to  the  Comte  de  Soissons,  Prince  Eugene's  father — and  especially 
with  Marie  Mancini  her  sister,  who  afterwards  married  Colonne,  a 
Constable  of  France. 

His  real  reign  had  not  yet  begun  when  these  amusemants  occupied 
the  idleness  to  which  Cardinal  Mazarin,  who  governed  despotically, 
condemned  him.  The  affair  of  Marie  Mancini  was  the  only  important 
one,  for  he  loved  her  well  enough  to  he  tempted  to  marry  her,  and  was 
sufficiently  master  of  himself  to  part  with  her.  That  victory  over  himself 
first  made  it  known  that  the  young  king  had  been  born  with  a  great 
soul.  A  victory  more  signal  and  more  difficult  was  his  allowing  Mazarin 
to    retain    absolute    power.      Gratitude     forbade     him     to     shake  off 

the  yoke  that  wTas  beginning  to  weigh  heavily 
It  was  a  current  anecdote  at  Court 
that  he  said  after  the  Cardinal's 
death  :  "I  do  not  know  what  I 
should  have  done  if  he  had  lived 
longer." 

During  this  leisure  time 
}  he  occupied  himself  in  reading, 
especially  with  Colonne,  who 
was  clever,  as  were  also  all 
his  sisters.  Louis  liked  the 
verses  and  romances  which 
secretly  flattered  his  own 
character  in  depicting  gallantry  and  grandeur.  He  read  the  tragedies  of 
Corneille,  and  formed  his  taste  for  the  masterpieces  of  literature.  The 
conversation  of  his  mother  and  her  ladies  contributed  not  a  little  to  his 
appreciation  of  intellect  and  wit,  and  trained  him  in  that  singular  polite- 
ness which  then  began  to  characterise  the  French  Court.  Anne  of  Austria 
had  brought  into  it  a  certain  proud  and  lofty  gallantry  which  belonged 
to  the  Spanish  mind  and  manners  of  those  days,  and  united  this  to  the 
grace,  gentleness,  and  becoming  freedom  which  existed  in  France  only. 
The  King  made  more  progress  in  that  school  of  accomplishments, 
between  his  eighteenth  and  his  twentieth  years,  than  he  had  made  in 
the  sciences  under  th9  teaching  of  his  preceptor,  the  Abbé  de  Beaumont, 
afterwards  Archbishop  of  Paris.  He  had  been  taught  hardly  anything. 
It    would    have    been    well    had    he    been    instructed    in    history,  and 


THE    POLICY    OF    CARDINAL  MAZARIN. 


r> 


especially    in    modern    history,    but  the 
latter    was   as    yet  too    ill-written.  A 
translation    of    Csesar's  "Commentaries" 
was  printed  under  his  name,  and  a  trans- 
lation    of    "Floras"    under  the 
name  of  his  brother;   hut  neither 
the    Kino;   nor   the    Prince  had 
anything    to   do   with  those  pro- 
ductions. 

The  Abbé  de  Beaumont,  who 
presided  over  the  education  of  the 
Kini"   under  Marshal   Villeroi,  his 


governor, 


was  all  that  he  ought 


louis  siv.  in  1658. 
Statuette  in  Colour  from  the  Theirs  Collection. 
(Musée  du  Louvre.) 


'  Teat  n'rn  «•»«. 


to  have  been  ;  but  the  civil  strife 
interfered  with  the  royal  boy's 
lessons,  and  Cardinal  Mazarin  was 
quite  willing  that  he  should  not 
learn  very  much.     When   he  fell 

in  love  with  Marie  Mancini  he  learned  Italian  readily  for  her  sake;  but 
when  the  time  came  for  his  marriage  he  applied  himself  to  Spanish  with 

less  success.  His  taking  to 
long-neglected  study,  and  the 
ignorance  of  affairs  in  which 
he  was  kept  by  Mazarin,  led 
all  the  Court  to  anticipate  that, 
like  his  father  Louis  XIII.,  he 
would  be  always  governed  in- 
stead of  governing. 


T  Y 

On  these  points  Voltaire 
and  all  his  contemporaries  are 
agreed.  Laporte,  the  young 
King's  valet,  brings  the  grave 
accusation  against  Mazarin  that 
he  abandoned  Louis  XIV.  to 
ignorance    and    frivolity,  and 


A  NOBLK  AND  HIS  WIFE. 
(From  Les  plus  illustres  1'roverbes,  by  Laguiet.) 


6 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV. 


Laporte  was  in  the  confidence  of  Anne  of  Austria.    His  statements  are  no 

doubt  those  of  an  honest  and  upright,  although  somewhat  self-conceited 
man,  and  we  must  consider  them. 

"In    1G45,"  he  writes,  "the  King  was  taken  out  of  the  women's 

charge.     I  was  the  first  who  slept  in  His  Majesty's  room,  much  to  his 

surprise  at  first  ;  hut  what  troubled  him  most  was  that  I  could  not 
tell  him  stories,  with  which  they  used  to  put  him  to  sleep. 


TflR  ROYAL  HUNT  AT  VINCENNES,   DURING  THE  YOUTH  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 
(Engraving  by  Mcmconiet. ) 


"  I  told  this  to  the  Queen,  and  added  that  if  Her  Majesty 
pleased  I  would  read  some  good  book  to  him.  If  he  went  to 
sleep,  well  and  good;  if  he  did  not,  he  might  get  some  profit  out  of 
the  reading. 

"  The  Queen  approved,  and  I  owe  it  to  the  truth  to  testify  that  she 
was  always  for  the  right  thing  when  not  prejudiced  beforehand." 

The  valet  turned  tutor  read  Mézeray  to  the  Kino-  everv  evenino- 
and  the  young  Prince  did  not  go  to  sleep. 

Neither  did  Mazarin,  to  whom  the  Queen  had  entrusted  the 
superintendence  of  her  son's  education. 


THE    CARDINAL    AND    THE  VALET. 


7 


"  The  reading  of  history  did  not  please  the  Cardinal,  for  one 
evening  at  Fontainebleau,  the  King  being  in  bed  and  I  in  my  dressing- 
gown,  reading  to  him  the  history  of  Hugh  Capet,  His  Eminence  passed 
through  the  King's  room  to  avoid  the  people  who  were  waiting  for  him. 
He  came  inside  the  balustrade  surrounding  the  bed — the  King  pretended 
to  be  asleep  so  soon  as  he  perceived  him — and  asked  me  what  book  I  was 
reading.  I  told  him  frankly  that  I  was  reading  the  history  of  France, 
because  the  King  found  it  so 
difficult  to  go  to  sleep  unless 
lie  had  some  story  or  another 
told  him.  He  went  away 
very  abruptly,  without  ap- 
proving of  what  I  was  doing, 
and  said  to  his  familiars  at 
his  own  bedtime  (coucher) 
that  I  was  'doing  governor' 
to  the  King." 

"  1  can  say  with  truth  that 
M.  de  Beaumont,  His  Majesty's 
preceptor,  omitted  no  pari  of 
his  duty.  On  the  contrary 
once,  when  I  was  present  with 
M.  de  Villeroi,  on  the  King's 
idling,  I,  having  vainly  waited 
for  the  governor  to  act  as 
became  him,  said  all  I  could 
to  make  this  child-king  think 
of  what  he  was  and  of  what 

he  ought  to  do,  and  after  I  had  lectured  him  well  the  governor  re- 
marked :  '  Laporte,  you  say  what  is  true.  Sire,  Laporte  tells  you  the 
truth.'  I  also  told  the  Queen  one  day  that  she  was  spoiling  him  ;  that 
in  his  own  abode  nothing  was  allowed  him,  and  in  hers  everything  was 
permitted." 

Laporte  avenged  himself  on  Cardinal  Mazarin  during  his  lifetime  for 
having  put  him  in  his  propel'  place  by  inciting  the  young  King  against 
him;  and  after  his  death,  by  accusing  him  to  posterity  of  not  teaching  him 
to  reign  so  that  he  (Mazarin)  might  reign  in  his  place. 


LOUIS  XrV.  AND  HIS  BROTHER  THE  DUKE  OF  ORLEANS  WITH  THEIR 
GOVERNESS,    MADAME  DE  SOUVItÉ,   MARQUISE  DE  LANSAC. 
(Musée  de  Versailles.) 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV. 


THK  REGENCY   OF  ANNE  OF 
AUSTRIA. 
(Medal  of  the  18tli  of  May,  1643.) 


Saint-Simon  has  condensed  the  criticism  of  Laporte. 
"  The  King's  intelligence  was  below  mediocrity,  but 
very  capable  of  improvement.  The  fault  really  lay  else- 
where. His  early  education  was  so  neglected  that  nobody 
ventured  near  his  apartment.  He  was  often  heard  to 
advert  to  that  time  with  bitterness,  and  told  how  he 
was  found  one  evening,  having  fallen  into  the  garden  of 
the  Palais  Royal  where  the  Court  was  then  in  residence. 

"  Eventually  his  dependence  on  others  was  extreme. 
He  was  barely  taught  to  read  and  write,  and  he  remained  so  ignorant 
that  of  the  best  known  matters  of  history,  events,  fortune,  careers,  birth, 
laws,  he  never  knew  a  word." 

Spanheim,  the  Envoy  from  Brandenburg,  writes  as  follows  in  1G90  :— 
"  His  natural  intelligence,  which  was  neither  brilliant  nor  lofty,  and 
was  moreover  limited  by  the  little  care  that  was  taken  to  cultivate  it  in 
his  youth,  and  by  the  dependent  state  in  which  he  was  kept  during  the 
life  of  the  Cardinal,  afterwards  gained  greater  strength." 

In  reality  Mazarin  had  been  careful  to  instruct  Louis  XIV.,  but  by  object- 
lessons  rather  than  by  books.    He  made  him  come  to  the  Council,  he  took 

him  to  the  army,  thus  teaching 
him  politics  and  war  at  the 
head-quarters  of  each. 

His  tutor  having  told  His 
Eminence  one  day  that  the 
King  did  not  apply  himself  to 
study,  and  that  he  (the  Car- 
dinal) ought  to  use  his  authority 
and  reprimand  him,  because  it 
was  to  be  feared  that  some  day 
he  might  do  the  same  in  great 
matters,  Mazarin  answered — 

"  Do  not  trouble  yourself. 
Depend  upon  me.  He  will  know 
only  too  much.  For,  when  he 
comes  to  the  Council,  he  asks 
me  a  hundred  questions  on  the 

LOUIS  XIV.,   WHEN  YOUNG,  ON  HORSEBACK.  .        -,  -,  „ 

(School  of  Vouet.— Mnsée  de  Versailles.)  matter   111  fiaild. 


ANNE  OF  AUSTRIA  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

(From  u  picture  in  the  Musée  de  Versailles,  presented  by  Anne  of  Austria  to  Le  Pelletier,  her  house-steward.) 

0 


A    SELF-TAUGHT  SOVEREIGN 


11 


louis  xiv.  in  1044. 
(From  a  gold  coin.)) 


Mazarin  considered  Louis  XIV. 
capable  of  teaching  himself  the 


#A  business  of  a  king.  And  in  fact 
the  King  did  teach  himself,  with- 
out appearing  to  do  so.  He  tells 
us  this.  "  Although  very  young," 
he  says,  "  I  preferred  in  my  mind 
a  high  reputation  to  all  things, 
and  even  to  life  itself,  if  I  could  acquire  it.  I  was  never  weary  of 
exercising  myself  in  private  and  without  any  confidants,  reasoning  by 
myself  and  in  myself  on  all  the  events  that  occurred,  full  of  hope  and 
joy  when  I  discovered  sometimes  that  my  first  thoughts  were  the  very 
same  as  those  at  which  able  and  mature  minds  had  come  to  a  stop." 

The  men  of  the  seventeenth  century  have  wondered  at  that  education 
in  action,  which  was  not  according  to  their  custom,  but  was  a  practical 
and  realistic  regime  more  like  our  own.  Was  it  not,  after  all,  the  best 
for  a  strong  and  sturdy  child  full  of  life  and  eager  for  movement? 

His  unexpected  birth  in  1(338  had  given  rise  to  gossip  at  Court 
and  among  the  people,  for  the 
relations  of  Anne  of  Austria 
and  Louis  XIII.  were  not  in- 
timate, and  when  Louis  XIV. 
was  born  he  came  to  France  as 
a  miracle.  France  thanked  God 
for  that  miracle,  and  followed 
with  the  keenest  interest  the 
progress    of    Louis    the  God- 


The  country  rejoiced  to 
learn  that  in  three  months  the 
lusty  infant  had  exhausted 
three  nurses.  The  first  was  a 
noble  lady,  Mademoiselle  de  la 
Giraudiere,  the  wife  of  a 
lawyer  employed  in  the  Orleans 
Treasury.  The  others  the 
"  dame  "  Hamelin,  for  instance — 


LOUIS  XIV.  IN  THE  ARMS  OF  HIS  NUUSE. 
(Muséeide  Versailles.    Recent  acquisitions.) 


Ï2 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


were  more  difficult  to  find.  The  milk-teeth  of  the  young  King  were 
formidable.  The  enemies  of  Louis  XIV.  afterwards  maintained  that  the 
greediness  of  his  babyhood  was  a  presage  of  his  rapacious  and  brutal 
deeds.    It  was  at  all  events  a  proof  of  vigour. 

He  gave  other  proofs  as  he  grew  older.  Laporte  has  recorded  some 
of  these.  "  One  night,  after  he  was  undressed,  he  set  about  making  a 
hundred  jumps  and  turning  head  over  heels  a  hundred  times  on  his  bed 

before  getting  into  it  ;  but  at 
last  he  made  so  big  a  jump 
that  he  came  head  foremost 
against  the  raised  floor  of  the 
alcove  on  the  other  side  with 
such  a  bump  that  I  did  not 
know  what  to  think.  I  ran  to 
the  King  and  lifted  him  up  on 
the  bed.  He  had  received  only 
a  slight  hurt.  The  footcloth, 
which  was  laid  on  loose  boards, 
had  broken  the  force  of  the 
blow." 

To  this  uncommon  robust- 
ness the  young  King  added  the 
lively  and  fearless  disposition 
not  uncommon  in  children  who 
feel  their  strength. 

"  The  King,  having  had  a 
fort  built  in  the  garden  of  the 
Palais  Royal,  got  into  such  a 
heat  in   attacking  it  that  he 


LOUIS  XIV.  GIVING  LETTERS-PATENT  TO  THE  BENEDICTINES,  1653. 
(Print  by  habile.) 


perspired  profusely.  He  was  told  that  the  Queen  was  about  to  take  her 
bath,  and  ran  quickly  to  get  into  it  with  her,  commanding  me  to  undress 
him,  which  I  would  not  do.  He  went  off  to  tell  the  Queen,  and  she 
dared  not  refuse.  I  told  Her  Majesty  that  it  might  be  the  death 
of  him.  She  said  that  the  permission  of  Vautier,  his  first  physician,  must 
be  asked." 

Louis  XIV.  had  to  bow  to  the  fiat  of  the  faculty,  and,  moreover,  to 
put  up  with  a  lengthy  admonition  from  Laporte  in  the  evening. 


FRATERNAL  FEUDS 


13 


Sometimes  there  were  terrible 
battles  between  the  King  and  his 
young  brother,  and  this  continued 
to  be  the  case  when  they  were 
both  big  boys,  as  we  learn  from 
a  scene  that  was  witnessed  by 
Mademoiselle  de  Montpensier. 
"  Monsieur  had  broken  Lent, 
and  ate  in  his  room.  He  came  one  day  into  the  Queen's  just  as  she  was 
about  to  dine  with  the  King.     He  found  a  small  pan  of  bouilli,  and 


LOUIS  XIV.  WHEN  FIVE 
YEARS  OLD. 

(From  a  medal  by  Manger. 
May,  1643.) 


LOUIS  XIV.  WHEN'  THIRTEEN 
YEARS  OLD. 
(From  a  meilal  by  Mangel  for  bis 
majority.    September,  1650.) 


THE  "ROYAL  GAME  OF  GOOSE,"  FOR  THE  DIVERSION  OF  HIS  MAJESTY. 
(From  tbe  Collection  of  Iiaron  Jérôme  Pichon.) 

showed  it  to  the  King,  who  told  him  not  to  eat  it.  Monsieur  said  he 
would.  The  King  replied,  'I  engage  you  don't.'  The  King  snatched  at 
the  plate,  and  some  of  the  meat-soup  fell  on  Monsieur,  who  is  very 
handsome,  and  extremely  proud  of  his  tine  head  of  hair.  This  made  him 
angry,  and  he  flung  the  plate  in  the  face  of  the  King,  who  did  not  at 
first  lose  his  temper.    But  some  of  the  Queen's  women  stirred  him  up 


14 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


ajrainst  Monsieur,  so  that  he  said  if  it  were  not  for  his  mother  he  would 
kick  him  out  Monsieur  went  away  and  shut  himself  up  in  his  room. 
The  Queen  and  the  Cardinal  reconciled  them  the  next  day."  But  this 
enfant  terrible  was  not  bad  hearted. 

"  When  he  wanted  to  go  to  sleep,"  says  Laporte,  "  he  would  make 
me  lay  my  head  near  to  his  own  ;  and  if  he  woke  in  the  night  he  would 
come  to  sleep  with  me.  Many  times  I  carried  him  back  to  his  own  bed 
still  sleeping.  He  liked  to  be  with  the  Queen,  for  whom  he  always  had 
ereat  affection— much  more  than  children  of  that  condition  usually  have 
for  their  mothers." 


GOMEDT  AT  COURT  IN  1656. 
(The  Theatre  at  Clermont.    From  a  print  in  the  Hennin  Collection.) 


Louis  XIV.  shared  his  affection  for  his  mother  with  Mazarin.  Perhaps 
he  suspected  the  bond  that  existed  between  them.  "My  mother,  who  knew 
him  thoroughly,"  writes  the  Abbe  de  Choisy,  "  told  me  a  hundred  times 
that  the  King's  heart  betrayed  his  head  in  the  unbounded  gratitude  which 
he  displayed  towards  Cardinal  Mazarin.  He  believed  himself  to  be  under 
the  deepest  obligations  to  him." 

Only  on  one  occasion  were  observers  of  sound  judgment  afforded  a 
forewarning  of  what    the   King  was  going  to  be:    this  was  in  1655, 


A    FORETASTE    OF    THE    KING'S    QUALITY  15 

when,  after  the  civil  wars,  his  first  campaign  and  his  coronation,  the 
Parliament  had  met  again  for  the  discussion  of  certain  edicts.  The 
King  left  Vincennes  in  his  hunting  dress,  followed  by  the  whole  Court, 
entered  the  Parliament  Hall  in  his  big  boots,  whip  in  hand,  and 
pronounced  these  words:  "The  harm  your  assemblies  have  done  is  well 
known.  I  command  that  those  which  have  been  begun  upon  my  edicts 
shall  cease.  Monsieur  the  first  President,  I  forbid  you  to  suffer  meetings 
to  take  place,  and  every  one  of  you  to  demand  them  !  " 


"LES  NOCES  DE  THETIS." 
(The  first  opera  played  in  Paris  in  1654.    Engraving  by  Silvestre.) 


These  early  blossoms  of  his  greatness  seemed  however  to  wither  away 
immediately  afterwards,  and  the  fruits  did  not  appear  until  after  the  death 
of  the  Cardinal. 

The  Court,  since  the  return  of  Mazarin,  was  occupied  with  plays, 
ballets,  comedy— newly  born  in  France,  and  not  yet  an  art— and  tragedy, 
which  had  become  a  sublime  art  in  the  hands  of  Pierre  Corneille.  A 
curé  (parish  priest)  of  Saint-Germain  l'Auxerrois,  who  inclined  towards 
the  Jansenists,  had  frequently  written  to  the  Queen  concerning  these  plays 


16 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


ill 


in  the  early  years  of  her  regency.  He  asserted  that  the  penalty  of 
witnessing  them  was  damnation,  and  induced  seven  doctors  of  the 
Sorbonne  to  sign  this  anathema.  The  Abbé  de  Beaumont,  however, 
provided  himself  with  a  greater  number  of  documents  by  learned  doctors 
in  approval  than  the  severe  curé  could  produce  in  condemnation.  Thus 
he  appeased  the  scruples  of  the  Queen  ;  and  when  he 
was  Archbishop  of  Paris  he  formally  authorised  the 
performances  which  as  abbé  he  had  defended.  This 
fact  is  stated  in  the  Memoirs  of  Madame  de  Motteville, 
which  are  trustworthy. 

After  Cardinal  Richelieu  introduced  the  plays  which 
have  rendered  Paris  the  rival  of  Athens,  not  only  was 
there  always  a  special  bench  for  the  Academy — which 
has  several  ecclesiastics  among  its  members — but  there 
was  a  special  one  for  the  bishops. 

In  1G46  and  1654  Cardinal  Mazarin  had 
Italian  operas,  executed  by  singers  from  Italy, 
represented  on  the  stage  of  the  Palais  Royal 
and  the  Petit  Bourbon,  near  the  Louvre. 

The  Jansenists,  whom  the  two  cardinals, 
Richelieu  and  Mazarin,  respectively  desired  to  suppress, 
avenged  themselves  upon  the  pleasures  which  those 
Ministers  had  procured  for  the  nation.  Lutherans  and 
Calviniste  had  done  the  same  in  the  time  of  Pope 
Leo  X.  The  same  minds  which  would  overturn  a  State 
to  establish  an  opinion  (frequently  absurd),  condemn  the 
innocent  pleasures  which  a  great  city  needs,  and  the 
arte  that  contribute  to  the  splendour  of  a  nation.  The 
abolition  of  plays  would  be  an  idea  more  worthy  of 
the  age  of  Attila  than  of  the  century  of  Louis  XIV. 
The  dance,  which  may  also  be  reckoned  among  the  arts,  because  it  is 
subjected  to  rules,  and  makes  the  body  graceful,  was  one  of  the  chief 
amusements  of  the  Court.  Louis  XIII.  had  danced  only  once,  in  1625, 
in  a  ballet  of  a  coarse  character,  which  gave  no  promise  of  what  the  arts 
were  to  be  in  France  thirty  years  after.  Louis  XIV.  excelled  in  stately 
dances,  which  suited  the  majesty  of  his  face,  and  did  not  take  from  that 
of    his  rank.     The   ring   races,  which  sometimes  took  place  with  great 


LOUIS  XIV.  IN  COSTUME  AS 
THE  SUN-KING. 
(In  the  ballot  of  La  Nuit.) 


THE    KING'S  MARRIAGE. 


17 


l  ensure 


display,  exhibited  his  proficiency  in  all  sorts  of  exercises.  The  pleas 
and  splendour  of  those  days  were  small  things  indeed  in  comparison  with 
the  magnificence  of  the  King's  real  reign,  but  astonishing  after  the  horrors 
of  civil  war  and  the  gloom  of  the  sombre  life  of  Louis  XIII.  That  sickly 
and  morose  monarch  had  not  been  housed  or  served  like  a  khm 

The  Crown  jewels  were  not  worth  a  hundred 
thousand  crowns.  Cardinal  Mazarin  left  only  twelve 
hundred  thousand  crowns'  worth  ;  and  to-day  there 
are  gems  in  the  regalia  to  the  value  of  nearly 
twenty  millions  of  francs. 

(1G00.)    At  the  marriage  of  Louis  XIV.  every- 
thing bore  a  more  marked  character  of  magnificence 
and    taste.     When  he   made   his   entry  with  the 
Queen,  his  wife,  Paris  greeted  the  young  bride 
with  respectful  admiration.    She  was  fair  to  see, 
borne  in  a  superb  car  of  novel  construction  ; 
the  King  on  horseback  by  her  side,  adorned 
with  all   that  art  could  add   to  his  manly 
and  heroic  beauty,  attracted  every  eye. 

At  the  end  of  the  Vincennes  alleys  a 
triumphal  arch  was  erected  on  a  base  of 
stone,  but  time  did  not  admit  of  its  being  finished 
in  durable  material  ;  it  was  erected  in  plaster  only, 
and  lias  since  been  entirely  demolished.  The  design 
was  by  Claude  Perrault.  The  Porte  Saint- Antoine 
was  rebuilt  for  the  same  ceremony  ;  a  monument 
inferior  in  taste,  but  adorned  with  some  handsome 
pieces  of  sculpture.  Those  who  had  beheld  the  bodies 
of  many  dead  or  dying  citizens  carried  back  into 
Paris  through  that  gate  after  the  battle  of  Saint- 
Antoine,  and  now  witnessed  that  far  different  entry, 
returned  thanks  for  so  beneficent  a  change. 

Cardinal  Mazarin  had  the  Italian  opera  entitled  Ercole  Amante  per- 
formed at  the  Louvre  in  celebration  of  the  royal  marriage.  It  did  not  please 
the  French.  They  cared  only  to  see  the  King  and  Queen,  who  danced. 
The  Cardinal  wanted  to  distinguish  himself  by  a  spectacle  more  suited  to 
the  taste  of  the  nation,  and  de  Lyonne,  the  Secretary  of  State,  undertook 


A  GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  COURT 
IN  COSTUME 
(In  the  ballot  of  ta  Nuit,  1653.) 


blessed  God  and 


18 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV. 


ENTRY  OF  LOUIS  XIV.   AND  MARIE  THERESE  INTO  PARIS  AFTER  THEIR  MARRIAGE. 
(From  the  official  account  published  iu  1602  by  the  City  of  Palis.) 


to  have  a  kind  of  tragic  allegory,  in  the  style  of  L'Europe,  which  was 
partly  by  Richelieu  composed.     It  was  lucky  for  the  great  Corneille  that 

he  was  not  chosen  to  execute  such  a  task. 

The  subject  was  Lysis  and  Hesperia. 
Lysis  signified  France  and  Hesperia  Spain. 
Quinault  was  employed  to  compose  the 
piece.  He  had  just  made  a  great  reputation 
by  his  Faux  Tiberinus,  which,  though  bad, 
had  achieved  a  prodigious  success.  Lysis 
had  no  such  good  fortune.  It  was  per 
formed  at  the  Louvre. 

Its  only  attraction  was  the  machinery. 
The  Marquis  de  Sourdeac,  to  whom  the 
establishment  of  Opera  in  France  was 
afterwards  due,  had  La  Toison  d'Or  by 
Pierre  Corneille  performed  at  his  chateau  of 
Neubourg  with  machinery.  Quinault,  who 
was  young  and  good  looking,  had  the  Court 
on  his  side.  Corneille  had  his  name  and 
France.  And  so  it  is  the  fact  that  France 
owes  opera  and  comedy  to  two  cardinals. 

The  King's  wedding  was  followed  by 
a  long  series  of  fêtes  ;  the  general  rejoicing 
was  increased  by  the  marriage  of  Mon- 
sieur, the  sovereign's  brother,  with  Princess 
Henrietta  of  Great  Britain,  sister  of  Charles  II.  The  festal  period  was 
interrupted  in  1GG1  by  the  death  of  Cardinal  Mazarin. 


OPERA  AND  BALLET  COSTUME. 
(From  a  Ha.  by  Bérain  iu  the  Versailles  Library.) 


THE    MAN    WITH    THE    IRON  MASK. 


19 


Some  months  after  the  Cardinal-Minister's  decease  an  event  which 
has  no  parallel  in  history  occurred,  and,  strange  to  say,  all  the  historians 
have  ignored  it.    A  prisoner,  more  than  common  tall, 
young,  with  a  finely-shaped  head  and  a  noble  mien, 
was  secretly  conveyed  to  the  chateau  of  the  Ile  de 
Sainte-Marguerite.     The  captive  wore  a   mask  with 
steel  springs  which  enabled  him  to  eat  without  re- 
moving it.    He  remained  in  the  island  until  an 
officer  named  Saint-Mars,  who  was  made  governor 
of  the  Bastille  in  1G90,  took  him  away  to  the 
State  Prison,  still  masked.    The  Marquis  de 
Louvois  had  visited  him  before  his  removal, 
and  had   spoken   to   him,    standing,  with 
courtesy   and    observance.     The  unknown 
person  was  comfortably  lodged  at  the  Bastille,  con- 
sidering the  accommodation  at  the  disposal  of  the 
governor,  and  he  was  refused  nothing  that  he  asked 
lor.     His  particular  fancy  was  for  extraordinarily 
fine  linen  and  lace.     He  played   the  guitar  ;  he 
was   supplied  with    the   daintiest  food,  and  the 
governor  rarely  took  a  seat  in  his  presence.  An 
old  doctor  in    the   service   of   the  Bastille,  who 
attended  this  strange  man,  has  stated  that  he  never 
saw  his  face,  although  he  had  frequently  examined 
his  tongue  and  the  rest  of  his  body.    He  was  very 

well  made,  of  dark  complexion,  had  a  most  attractive  voice,  made  no  com- 
plaints and  never  allowed  a  glimpse  of  his  possible  identity  to  be  obtained. 


OPERA  AND  BALLET  COSTUME. 

(From  a  MS.  by  Bcraiu  in  the 
Versailles  library.  ) 


20 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV. 


This  unknown  person,  familiar  to  tradition,  romance  and  drama  as 
"the  Man  with  the  Iron  Mask,"  died  in  1705,  and  was  buried  by  night 
in  the  parish  of  Saint-Paul.  His  story  is  more  strange  for  the  fact  that 
at  the  period  of  his  being  sent  to  the  Ile  de  Sainte-Marguerite,  no  man 
of  mark  in  Europe  disappeared.  That  the  prisoner  was  "  somebody  "  is 
indubitable,  for,  from  the  day  of  his  arrival  the  governor  himself  set  the 
dishes  on  his  dinner-table,  and  then  retired  after  having  locked  the  doors. 
One  day  the  prisoner  wrote  with  a  knife  on  a  silver  plate,  which  he 
threw  at  a  boat  drawn  up  on  the  river  bank  at  the  foot  of  the  tower. 
The  owner  of  the  boat  brought  it  to  the  governor. 

"Have  you  read  what  is  written  on  this  plate?"  he  asked;  "and  has 


GROTESQUE  FACES  FOR  BALLETS  AND  OPERAS. 
(MS.  by  Béraiu  iu  thu  Versailles  Library.) 


any  person  seen  it  in  your  hands  ?"  "I  cannot  read,"  replied  the  fisher- 
man. "  I  have  only  just  found  the  plate  ;  nobody  has  seen  it."  The 
man  was  detained  until  the  governor  was  fully  satisfied  that  he  was  not 
able  to  read,  and  that  nobody  had  seen  the  plate.  "  You  may  go,"  he 
said  then.    "It  is  well  for  you  that  you  do  not  know  how  to  read." 

Among  persons  who  had  authentic  knowledge  of  this  fact,  one  is 
still  living.  M.  de  Chamillart  was  the  last  Minister  in  possession  of  the 
strange  secret.  The  second  Marshal  de  la  Feuillade,  his  son-in-law,  told 
me  that  when  the  Marshal  was  dying  he  entreated  him  to  tell  him  the 
truth  concerning  the  identity  of  the  Man  with  the  Iron  Mask.  Chamillart 
made  answer  that  it  was  a  State  secret,  and  he  had  sworn  never  to  reveal 
it.     Lastly,   many   of  my  contemporaries  depose  to  the   truth  of  what 


A    STATE    SECRET    WELL  KEPT. 


21 


I  state,  and  I  am  not  acquainted  with 
any  fact  more  extraordinary  or  better 
authenticated. 


+ 


GROTESQUE  DANCER  FOB  BALLETS 
AND  OPERAS. 


GROTESQUE  DANGER  FOR 
AND  OPERAS. 


Since  Voltaire's  time  this  legend 
has  been  public  property,  and  it  has 
never  yet  been  satisfactorily 
explained.  Not  one  of  the 
contemporaries  of  Louis  XIV. 
referred  to  it.  It  was  only  in 
1745  that  the  author  of  "  Mé- 
moires Secrets  pour  servir  à 
l'Historié  de  la  Perse  ''  brought 
this  cause  céleJire  into  fashion.  Vol- 
taire immediately  undertook  the 
investigation  of  it  ;  he  entered 
eagerly  into  this  police  incident  of 
the  Court  of  the  great  King.  At  Paris  he'  cross-examined  the  son-in-law 
of  the  physician  who  had  attended  the  masked  prisoner — a  formel'  commis- 
sariat officer  at  Cannes,  who  had  information  respecting  the  detention  of 
the  captive — and  also  others  whose  testimony  he  invokes.  Proud  of 
having  set  forth  this  problem,  he  left  the  solution  of  it  to  posterity. 

It  has  been  thought  that  the  masked  man  was   Fouquet,  or  the  Due 
de  Vermandois,  or  even  the  Duke   of  Monmouth,  notwith- 
standing the  circumstantial  details  of    the  execution  of  the 
unfortunate  son  of  Charles  II.    It  is  almost  certain  that 

in  -  stimulating  curiosity \  Vol- 
taire    has     departed  from 
history.        The,  captive 
existed,   it    is    true,  but 

his  imprisonment  was  less   

strict  than  is  believed  ; 
his  mask  was  of  velvet 
only,  not  of  iron.  He  was 
neither  a  personage  of  the  royal 
family  nor  a  celebrated  man,  but 
probably  either  one  Mattioli,  an 


GROTJ  SQIFE  DANCER  FOR  BALLETS 
AND  Ol'ERAS. 


GROTESQUE  DANCER  FOR 
AND  Ol'ERAS. 


22 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV. 


obscure  agent  of  the  Duke  of  Mantua, 
or  a  mere  valet    de   chambre  named 
Eustaclie  Dauger.* 

It  is  more  profitable 
to  contemplate  the  pretty 
picture  of  the  young  Court 
and  the  united  royal  family 
which  Madame  de  Lafayette  has 
>equea thed  to  us.  "  The  Queen- 
mother,"  she  writes,  "  in  virtue  of 
her  rank,  held  the  first  place  in 
the  royal  house,  and  according  to 
she  ought  to  have 
held  it  by  her  influence  ;  but  the 
same  disposition  that  had  made  the  royal  authority  a  heavy  burden  to  her 
when  it  was  entirely  in  her  hands  prevented  her  from  wishing  to  have 
any  part  in  it  after  it  ceased  to  be  so.  Her  mind  seemed  to  be  anxious 
and  occupied  with  affairs  during  the  life  of  her  husband,  but  no  sooner  had 
she  become  mistress  of  herself  and  of  the  kingdom  than  she  thought  only 


GROTESQUE  DANCER  FOR  BALLETS  |  appearanCeS 
AND  OPERAS. 


GROTESQUE  DANCER  FOR 
AND  OPERAS. 


*  The  author  does  not  mention  the  most  plausible  of  all  the  suppositions  respecting  the 
identity  of  the  Man  with  the  Iron  Mask,  viz.,  that  he  was  the  son  of  Anne  of  Austria 
and  Mazarin.  It  is  easily  to  be  understood  that  the  King  and  his  Ministers  would  be 
anxious  to  conceal  the  existence  of  such  a  person,  and  that  the  death  of  Mazarin  would 

imprisoning  him.     It  is  curious  that  the  "  particular  fancy  "  of 


enable  them 


the 


prisoner  in 


Bourgeois  records 


GROTESQUE  DANGER  FOR  BALLETS 
AND  OPERAS. 


It  is  curious  that  the  "  particular  fancy 
the  Bastille,  which  M. 
,  furnishes  a  piece  of  cir- 
cumstantial or  at  least  presumptive  evidence 
of  the  relationship  of  the  masked  man  to 
the  Queen.  It  was  Anne  of  Austria  who 
raised  luxury  in  lace  and  lingerie  to  the 
height  of  a  craze  in  the  French  Court,  and 
of  whom  it  is  told  that  she  said  her  purga- 
tory would  surely  be  having  to  sleep  in 
coarse  sheets.  The  details  of  cuffs,  guipure, 
and  suggestion  of  under-dress  in  the  por- 
trait of  the  Queen-mother-Regent,  by 
Philippe  de  Champagne,  and  in  that  pre- 
sented by  Anne  of  Austria  to  her  steward, 
M.  Le  Pelletier,  reproduced  in  this  work,  are 
worth  examining,  if  the  reader  cares  to 
entertain  the  notion  of  heredity  in  taste. — 
Translator's  Note. 


GROTESQUE  DANCER  FOR  BALLETS 
AND  OPERAS. 


A    JEALOUS  QUEEN. 


23 


\ 


of  leading  a  quiet  life,  and 
occupying  herself  with  de- 
votional exercises.  Thence- 
forward she  displayed  great 
indifference  to  everything. 

"  Nevertheless  she  did 
care  for  the  affection  of  her 
children.  She  had  brought 
them  up  with  herself  so 
tenderly  that  she  felt  some 
jealousy  of  the  persons  with 
whom  they  sought  their  pleasures.  She  was,  however,  satisfied  if  only 
they  paid  her  the  attention  of  visiting  her. 

"  The  young  Queen  was  twenty-two  years  old  ;  her  figure  was  good, 


THE  KINO  ASSUMING  THE  GOVERNMENT 
OP  THE  STATE. 


MEDAL  BY  MOLART. 
(1661.) 


THE  DEATH  OF  CARDINAL  MAZARIN. 
(From  a  contemporary  print.) 

and  she  might  fairly  be  described  as  handsome,  though  not  pleasing.  She 
was  but  little  known,  and  there  was  not  any  great  desire  to  know  her 
better,  for  she  was  entirely  absorbed  in  a  passionate  attachment  to  the 

King,  and  in  all  the  rest  of  her  actions  she  kept 
close  to  the  Queen  her  mother-  -~ — -—^ 
in-law,  making  no  distinction 
of  persons  or  diversions,  and 
suffering    on  account   of  her 
jealousy  of  the  King. 

"  Monsieur,  the  King's 
only  brother,  was  no  less  at- 
tached to  his  mother.  His 
inclinations  were  as  much  in 


THE  QUEEN'S  ENTRY  INTO  PARIS,  10(50 
(Medal  by  Molart.) 


LOUIS  XIV.  IN  1660. 
(Medal  by  Loir.) 


24  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV. 

the  direction  of  feminine  occupations  as  the  King's  were  the  reverse.  He 
was  handsome  and  well  made,  hut  his  face  and  his  stature  would  have 
become  a  princess  better  than  a  prince.  He  cared  more  for  winning  universal 
admiration  by  his  personal  attractions  than  for  gaining  the  love  of  women. 
His  self-conceit  seemed  to  render  him  incapable  of  any  other  attachment. 

"  When  the  marriage  of  Monsieur  took  place  everybody  was  surprised 
by  the  gracefulness  and  the  courteous  behaviour  of  Madame.  As  the 
Queen-mother  kept  her  constantly  with  herself,  the  English  Princess  was 

only  seen  in  the  Queen's  circle. 
It  was  a  new  discovery  to 
find  her  mind  as  attractive 
as  her  person.  She  was  the 
universal  subject  of  conversa- 
tion, and  everybody  was  loud 
in  her  praise. 

"  After  a  prolonged  sojourn 
in  Paris  Monsieur  and  Madame 
went  to  Fontainebleau,  and  the 
presence  of  the  Princess  made 
everything  bright.  The  King, 
when  he  came  to  see  more 
of  her,  knew  how  unjust  he 
had  been  in  not  regarding 
her  as  the  fairest  of  the  fair. 
He  became  greatly  attached  to 
her,  and  treated  her  with  the 
Philippe,    fils  de  France,"  brother  of  the  king.         utmost  kindness  and  distinction. 

(From  a  portrait  by  Lely.) 

She  arranged  the  parties  of 
pleasure  ;  they  were  all  made  up  for  her.  It  was  the  middle  of  summer. 
Madame  bathed  ;  every  day  she  went  in  a  coach,  followed  by  all  the 
Court  ladies.  After  supper  they  drove  round  the  canal  in  open  carriages, 
and  to  the  music  of  violins,  for  a  part  of  the  night. 

"  Then  it  was  that  all  France  flocked  to  the  palace  where  dwelt 
Madame.  The  men  were  all  bent  on  paying  court  to  her  and  the  women 
on  pleasing  her. 

"  Mme.  de  Valentinois,  sister  of  the  Comte  de  Guiche,  was  one  of 
those   whom  she  selected  as  a  companion  in  her   pleasures.     Mme.  de 


COLBERT    ON    THE  BRINK 


25 


Maintenon,  as  well  as  other  persons  to  whom  she  had  shown  kindness 
before  her  marriage,  had  the  honour  of  seeing  her  frequently." 

Mdlle.  de  la  Tremouille  and  Mme.  de  Lafayette  were  of  this  number. 

In  the  meantime  Louis  XIV.  divided  his  time  between  the  pleasures 
of  his  time  of  life  and  the  affairs  that  constituted  his  duty.  He  held 
a  council  every  day,  and  afterwards  worked  privately  with  Colbert.  The 


THK  COURT  AT  FONTAINEBLEAU  IN  16C2 — "  THK  GRANDEST  COURT  IN  EUROPE. " 
(Print  by  Lepeautre.) 


latter  custom  was  the  origin  of  the  downfall  of  the  famous  Superin- 
tendent Fouquet,  which  entailed  that  of  Guénégaud  (Secretary  of  State), 
Pellisson,  Gourville,  and  so  many  others.  The  fall  of  Colbert,  who 
was  much  less  open  to  reproach  than  Cardinal  Mazarin  had  been,  shows 
that  there  is  more  than  one  way  of  coming  to  disaster.  The  Minister's  fate 
was  already  decided  when  the  King  accepted  the  magnificent  fête  which 
was  given  to  him  by  Colbert  at  Vaux.  The  palace  and  gardens  had  cost 
him  eighteen  millions — the  present  equivalent  of  that  sum  would  be 
about  thirty -five  millions.  He  had  built  the  palace  twice,  and  purchased 
three  hamlets;    the  whole  extent  of  these  was  inclosed  in  the  immense 

E 


26 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


gardens,  partly  planted  by  Le  Nôtre,  and  then  regarded  as  the  most 
beautiful  in  Europe.  The  fountains  of  Vaux,  which  afterwards  appeared 
below  mediocrity  in  comparison  with  those  of  Versailles,  Marly  and  Saint- 
Cloud,  were  marvels  at  that  time. 

But   however    beautiful    the    house,    that    expenditure    of  eighteen 
millions— the  accounts  still  exist — proved  that  Colbert's  money  had  been 
spent  as  lavishly  as  he  had  expended  the  King's.    Fontainebleau  and  Saint- 
Germain,  the  only  "  pleasure- 
houses  "  inhabited  by  the  King, 
were  much  inferior  to  Vaux. 
Louis  XIV.  felt  this,  and  it 
irritated  him.      All  over  the 
house   the  arms   of  Fouquet 
were    to    be    seen    with  his 
device,    a   squirrel,    and  the 
words  :  "  Quo  non  ascendant  ?  " 
(Whither  shall  I  not  climb?) 
The  King  had  them  explained 
to  him,  and  the  ambition  of 
this  motto  did  not   tend  to 
mollify   him.      The  courtiers 
remarked    that    the  squirrel 
was  painted  everywhere,  pur- 
sued by  an  adder,  which  was 
Colbert's     arms.      The  fete 
excelled    those     which  Car- 
dinal Mazarin  had  given,  not 
only  in  magnificence  but  in 
taste.    The  Fâcheux  of  Molière 
was  represented  for  the  first 
time   on  this  occasion.     Pellisson  had  written   the  prologue,  which  was 
much  admired.    Had  it  not  been  for  the  Queen-mother,  the  Superintendent 
and  Pellisson  would  have  been  arrested  at  Vaux  on  the  day  of  the  fête 
itself.    The  King's  resentment  was  increased  by  the  fact  that  Mademoiselle 
de  La  Valliere,  for  whom  he  was  beginning  to  feel  a  real  passion,  had 
been  the  object  of  one  of  Fouquet's  passing  fancies.    The  Superintendent, 
whom  she    unhesitatingly  rejected,  having   afterwards  perceived  what  a 


COUNCILLOR  TO  THE  PARLIAMENT*  ' 
(lu  Les  conditions  de  la  vie  humaine,  by  S.  Leclerc.) 


FOTTQTTET'S    HOSPITALITY    AND    ITS  REWARD 


■27 


THE  ARMS  OF  COLBERT  WITH  THE   ADDER  IN  THE  CENTRE. 

(HpuilinK  in  honour  of  Colbert.) 

powerful  rival  he  had,  would  have  liked  to  be  the  confidant  of  the  lady, 
and  that  too  was  an  offence.  The  King  had  been  tempted,  in  the  first 
impulse  of  his  anger,  to  have  the  Superintendent  arrested  in  the  midst  of 


KOUQUET   PROTECTING  THE  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES,   AND  RENDERING  JUSTICE. 
(Print  by  Chauveau.) 

the    fête    which    he    had   accepted    from    him,    but   afterwards  adopted 
unnecessary  dissimulation.    It  looked  as  though  the  monarch,  already  all- 
powerful,  feared  the  influence  of  the  adherents  whom  Fouquet  had  gained. 
He  was  Procurator-General  to   the  Parliament,  and  that  office  gave 


28 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


him  the  privilege  of  being  tried  by  the  assembled  Chambers;  but  so 
many  princes,  marshals  and  dukes  had  been  tried  by  commissaries  that 
a  magistrate  might  have  been  treated  in  the  same  way,  since  recourse  had 
been  had  to  unusual  methods— a  step  which,  without  being  unjust,  always 
conveys  a  suspicion  of  injustice.  Colbert  induced  him,  by  means  that 
were  not  precisely  honourable,  to  sell  his  post,  He  was  offered  eighteen 
hundred  thousand  livres  for  it— a  sum  which  would  now  be  equivalent  to 

three  millions  and  a  half — and 
by  a  misunderstanding  he  sold 
it  for  only  fourteen  hundred 
thousand  francs.  The  Duc  de 
Guise,  Grand  Chamberlain  to 
the  King,  had  sold  this  Crown 
office  to  the  Duc  de  Bouillon 
for  eight  hundred  thousand 
livres. 

It  was  the  Fronde,  the 
civil  war  of  Paris,  that  had 
put  this  price  upon  places  in 
the  Judicature.  It  was  one  of 
the  great  defects  and  one  of 
the  great  misfortunes  of  a 
heavily  indebted  Government 
that  France  was  the  only 
country  in  the  world  in  which 
judgeships  were  vendible,  but 
this  came  from  the  leaven 
of  sedition.  It  was  an  insult 
to  the  throne  that  the  post  of 
Royal  Procurator  should  cost  more  than  the  highest  dignities  of  the  Crown. 

Fouquet,  notwithstanding  that  he  had  wasted  the  finances  of  the 
State  and  his  own,  was  a  great-souled  person.  His  depredations  were 
committed  in  the  spirit  of  magnificence  and  liberality  (1661).  He  handed 
over  the  price  of  his  place  to  the  public  treasury,  and  that  noble  action 
did  not  save  him.  A  man  whom  a  police-officer  and  two  guards  might 
arrest  in  Paris  was  induced  to  go  to  Nantes,  and  the  King  was  conspicu- 
ously gracious  to  him  on  the  eve  of  his  disgrace.     Louis  XIV.  seems  to 


A  CHIEF  JUSTICE. 

(In  Les  conditions  de  la  vie  humaine,  by  S.  Leclerc.) 


TAPESTRY  WITH  THE  KING'S  ARMS  AND  MOTTO. 
(Garde-Meuble  Collection.) 


HESNAULT    TO  COLBERT 


31 


SONNET. 

Ministre  avare  et  lâche,  esclave  malheureux, 
Qui  gémis  sous  le  poids  des  affaires  publiques  ; 
Victime  dévouée  aux  chagrins  politiques, 
Fantôme  révéré  sous  un  titre  onéreux  ; 

Vois  combien  des  grandeurs  le  comble  est  dangereux 
Contemple  de  Fouquet  les  funestes  reliques, 
Et,  tandis  qu'à  sa  perte  en  secret  tu  t'appliques, 
Crains  qu'on  ne  te  prépare  un  destin  plus  affreux  : 

Sa  chute  quelque  jour  te  peut  être  commune. 
Crains  ton  poste,  ton  rang,  la  cour  et  la  fortune. 
Nul  ne  tombe  innocent  d'où  l'on  te  voit  monté. 

Cesse  donc  d'animer  ton  prince  à  son  supplice; 
Et,  près  d'avoir  besoin  de  toute  sa  bonté, 
Ne  le  fais  pas  user  de  toute  sa  justice. 


have  belied  his  character  in  this  matter;  but  he  was  given  to  understand 
that  Fouquet  was  making  great  fortifications  at  Belle  Isle,  and  that  he 
might  have  too  many  connections  both  outside  and  inside  the  kingdom. 
It  became  evident,  when  he  was  arrested  and  taken  to  the  Bastille  and 
to  Vincennes,  that  his  "party"  was  nothing  else  than  the  greed  of 
certain  courtiers  and  women  who  received  pensions  from  him,  and  forgot 
him  so  soon  as  he  ceased  to  be  in  a  position  to  bestow  them.  Other 
friends  he  retained,  and  this  proves  that  he  deserved  them.  The  famous 
Madame  de  Sévigné,  Gourville,  Mademoiselle  Scudéry,  with  several 
men  of  letters,  declared 
openly  for  him,  and 
served  his  cause  so  ar- 
dently that  they  saved 
his  life. 

The  accompanying 
verses  against  Colbert, 
the  persecutor  of 
Fouquet,  written  by 
Hesnault,  the  translator 
of  Lucretius,  are  well 
known. 

Colbert,  to  whom 
this  offensive  sonnet 
was  mentioned,  asked 
whether  the  King  was 
offended    by    it.  He 

was  told  that  His  Majesty  was  not  offended.  "Then  I  am  not,"  replied 
the  Minister.  Colbert  appeared  to  be  moderate,  but  in  reality  he  eagerly 
desired  the  death  of  the  Superintendent.  It  is  a  pity  he  was  not  so 
generous  as  lie  was  vigilant. 

One  of  Fouquet's  most  implacable  persecutors  was  Michel  Le  Tellier, 
then  Secretary  of  State,  and  his  rival  in  repute.  Le  Tellier  was  after- 
wards Chancellor.  But  it  was  Chancellor  Seguier,  the  President  of  the 
Commission,  who  sought  his  death  most  persistently  and  treated  him  with 
the  greatest  severity. 

The  fact  was  that  to  try  the  Superintendent  was  to  accuse  the 
memory  of  Cardinal  Mazarin. 


32 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


The  most  important  depredations  in  the  finances  were  his  doing.  He 
had  arbitrarily  appropriated  to  himself  several  branches  of  the  State 
revenue  ;  he  had  dealt  in  his  own  name  and  to  his  profit  with  munitions 
for  the  troops.  "  He  imposed,"  says  Fouquet,  "  extra  sums  upon  the 
districts  by  arbitrary  warrants  (lettres  de  cachet).  This  had  never  been 
done  except  by  him  and  for  him,  and  is  punishable  by  death  according 
to  the  statutes."  Thus  it  was  that  the  Cardinal  had  amassed  wealth  great 
indeed  beyond  his  own  knowledge. 

I  have  heard  it  related  that  M.  de 
Caumartin,  Comptroller  of  the  Finances, 
when  visiting  the  Palais  Mazarin, 
the  abode  of  the  Duc  de  Mazarin, 
his  heir,  and  the  Duchesse  Hortense, 
several  years  after  the  death  of  the 
Cardinal,  saw  there  a  large  mar- 
quetry cabinet  in  a  recess.  The 
keys  had  been  lost  long  before,  and 
the  drawers  had  not  been  opened. 
M.  de  Caumartin,  much  surprised 
at  such  negligence,  said  to  the 
Duchesse  de  Mazarin  that  she  might 
probably  find  curiosities  in  the 
cabinet.  She  had  it  opened  :  it 
was  filled  with  quadruples,  counters,  and 
gold  medals.  The  Duchesse  filing  these  out 
of  the  palace  windows  to  the  people  in 
handfuls  during  more  than  a  week. 
The  abuse  of  his  despotic  power  by  Cardinal  Mazarin  did  not  justify 
the  Superintendent  ;  but  the  irregularity  of  the  procedure  in  the  case  of 
Fouquet,  the  length  of  his  trial,  the  animus  shown  by  Chancellor  Se'guier, 
the  lapse  of  time,  which  subdues  public  envy  and  inspires  compassion  for 
the  unfortunate,  lastly,  the  solicitations  in  favour  of  an  unhappy  man, 
which  were  more  urgent  than  the  demands  of  his  enemies — all  these 
combined  to  save  his  life. 

Judgment  was  not  given  until  1664,  at  the  end  of  three  years.  Of 
tlu'.  twenty-two  judges  only  nine  voted  for  a  sentence  of  death  ;  the 
thirteen  others  voted  for  banishment  for  life.     The  Kino;  changed  the 


FOUQUET. 
(By  S.  Bourdon, — Musée  de  Versailles.) 


THE    FATE    OF  FOUQUET 


33 


latter  penalty  for  a  harder  one.  Such  severity  was  not  in  conformity 
either  with  the  ancient  laws  of  France  or  with  those  of  humanity. 

Public  feeling  was  especially  outraged  by  the  act  of  the  Chancellor 
in  causing  one  of  the  judges,  named  Roquesante,  who  had  chiefly 
influenced  the  tribunal  towards  leniency,  to  be  exiled.  Fouquet  was 
imprisoned  in  the  Château  de  Pignerol.  All  historians  state  that  he  died 
there  in  1680  ;  but  Gourville  asserts  that  Fouquet  came  out  of  prison 
some  years  before  his  death.  The  Comtesse  de  Vaux,  his  daughter-in-law, 
had  already  affirmed  this  to  me  personally  ;  nevertheless  the  family  gives 
no  credit  to  it.      And  so  it  is  not  known  where  the  unfortunate  man, 


COMPOSITION  IN  THE  F  OH  M  OF  A  MEDAL  IN  HONOUR  OF  CHANCELLOR  LE  TELLIER. 
(By  Van  Schuppen,  1679.) 

whose  least  actions  and  movements  were  so  widely  published  in  the  days 
of  his  power,  ended  his  life. 

Cxuénégaud,  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  sold  his  post  to  Colbert,  was 
prosecuted  by  the  Chamber  of  Justice,  notwithstanding,  and  deprived  of 
the  greater  part  of  his  fortune. 

Saint- Évremond  was  connected  with  Fouquet  in  his  disgrace.  Certain 
papers  entrusted  t..  Madame  du  IMessis-Bellière,  which  had  been  seized  by 
order  of  Colbert,  and  the  manuscript  letter  of  Saint-Évremond  on  the 
"Peace  of  the  Pyrenees"  was  found  among  them.  This  jesting  production 
was  read  to  the  King  and  made  to  appear  as  a  State  offence.  Colbert, 
who  did   not,  deign  to  avenge  himself  upon  Hesnault,  an  obscure  person, 


34  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

persecuted  in  Saint-Evremond  the  friend  of  Fouquet,  whom  he  hated, 
and  the  wit  whom  he  feared.  The  King  was  so  ruthless  as  to  punish 
an  innocent  jest  aimed  long  before  at  Cardinal  Mazarin,  whom  he  did  not 
regret,  and  whom  the  Court  had  insulted,  calumniated  and  proscribed 
with  entire  impunity  during  several  years.  The  least  cutting  of  a  thousand 
satires  upon  the  Cardinal-Minister  was  the  only  one  ever  punished,  and 

that  after  his  death. 

Saint-ÊVremond  lived  and 
died  in  retirement  in  England, 
as  a  free  man  and  a  philoso- 
pher. The  Marquis  de  Mire- 
mont,  his  friend,  maintained 
that  there  was  another  cause 
for  his  downfall,  and  Saint- 
ÉVremond  never  could  be 
induced  to  explain  it.  When 
Louis  XIV.  gave  permission 
for  Saint-Evremond  to  return 
to  France  at  the  close  of  his 
life,  the  philosopher  disdained 
to  regard  the  royal  permission 
as  a  favour  ;  he  held  that 
one's  country  is  where  one  is 
happy,  and  he  was  happy  in 
London. 

The  new  Finance  Minister, 
under  the  simple  title  of  Comp- 

THE  REVENUE-FARMER,   OR  THE  MISER. 

(Engraving  by  Landry.)  troller  -  General,     justified  the 

severity  with  which  he  had 
acted,  by  re-establishing  the  order  that  his  predecessors  had  disturbed,  and 
working  with  unremitting  energy  for  the  benefit  and  greatness  of 
the  State. 

t 

We  have  trustworthy  testimony  to  the  excessive  severity  of  Colbert 
towards  Fouquet,  from  d'Ormesson,  who  was  "reporter"  on  the  occasion 
of  the  trial,  and  forfeited  the  King's  favour  by  saving  the  life  of  Fouquet. 


THE    TESTIMONY    OF    D'ORMESSON  35 

"Here  is  the  end,"  he  writes  in  his  journal,  "of  that  great  trial  of 
which  all  France  talked  from  the  day  of  its  beginning  until  the  day  of 
its  termination.  Its  greatness,  however,  consisted  mainly  of  the  quality 
of  the  accused  and  the  importance  of  the  affair,  and  principally  of  Berryer, 
who  introduced  a  thousand  useless  things  in  order  to  make  himself  the 
most  necessary  and  chief  person  in  affairs,  and  to  prolong  the  time  so 
as   to   make   his  fortune  secure.     Such  conduct  he  was   acting  against 


A  SATIIUCAL  l'HINT.     THK  HEVENUE-KAHMEliS  l'UNISHEI)  BV  THE  HOYAL  JUSTICE. 

(1661.) 


the  interests  of  M.  Colbert,  who  craved  only  for  its  end  and  its 
result,  and  he  did  not  fail  to  throw  the  fault  on  all  the  most  honest 
people  of  the  Court.  .  .  .  The  bias  of  enmity  and  the  arbitrary  use  of 
authority  which  appealed  in  all  the  incidents  of  the  trial,  and  the  false- 
hoods of  Berryer,  have  been  the  chief  means  of  saving  M.  Fouquet  from 
the  capital  sentence  ;  and  the  disposition  of  men's  minds  in  the  matter 
lias  been  manifested  by  the  rejoicing  of  the  public,  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  in  the  safety  of  the  ex-Superintendent.  This  has  been  carried 
to  an  excess  not  to  be  described,  universal  benedictions  being  lavished 
on  the  judges  who  saved  him,  and  on  the  others  curses  and  every  mark 
of  hatred  and  contempt — songs  in  the  first  place." 


36 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


D'Ormesson  is  certainly  less  equitable,  being  embittered  by  resent- 
ment, when  he  judges  and  condemns  the  very  popular  proceedings  which 
were  instituted  against  the  revenue-farmers  after  the  trial  and  sentence  of 
I  he  Superintendent. 

"On  the  18th  of  October,  1GG5,  M.  Le  Pelletier  sent  for  me  to  go 
to  supper  at  the  house  of  M.  Boucherat,  with  M.  Brillac.  There  I  learned 
that  the  taxes  of  the  Chamber  of  Justice  have  been  settled,  and  the 
contract  signed  before  the  King  at  a  hundred  and  ten  millions  ;  this  is  a 
resolution  which  astonishes  everybody.  It  ruins  the  creditors  of  the 
financiers  ;  it  ruins  all  money  dealings  with  men  of  business  ;  it  ruins 
the  King,  because  financiers,  no  longer  having  credit,  will  not  be  able  to 
make  advances  to  the  King,  and  it  is  certain  that  after  these  taxes  shall 
not  have  been  paid  this  maximum  will  have  to  be  abolished.  It  is 
certified  every  day  that  there  are  taxes  so  extraordinarily  heavy  that 
they  amount  to  at  least  the  whole  property  of  the  taxpayers,  and  it 
appears  impossible  that  they  can  be  realised.  The  hardship  of  these  taxes 
is  a  subject  of  general  complaint." 


JEWELS  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 
(From  drawings  by  Gilles  l'Égaré.) 


FRIEZE  OF  THE  SALON  DE  L'ŒIL  DE  BŒUF. 
(Bas-relief  liy  Vim  C'leve  in  gikleJ  stucco. — Château  .de  Versailles.) 

I  [. 

THE    BIRTH    OF    THE    GREAT  CENTURY. 

'  I  'HE  Court  became  the  headquarters  of 
pleasure  and  the  model  of  the  other 
European  Courts.  The  King  piqued  himself 
upon  giving  fêtes  which  should  cast  those  of 
Vaux  into  the  shade. 

France  boasted  at  that  period  the  greatest 
men  in  all  the  arts,  and  all  that  was  finest 
and  fairest  among  men  and  women  were 
assembled  at  the  Court  of  her  King.  Louis 
surpassed  all  his  courtiers  in  symmetry  of  form 
and  the  majestic  beauty  of  his  features.  The 
tones  of  his  noble  and  touching  voice  won 
the  hearts  of  those  who  were  intimidated  by  his 
presence.  His  gait  and  bearing  became  him- 
self only  and  would  have  been  ridiculous  in 
any  other.  The  embarrassment  of  persons  who 
spoke  to  him  was  a  secret  gratification  to  his  sense  of  superiority.  The 
old  officer  who  grew  confused,  stammered  in  asking  a  favour  of  him,  and 
at  last,  being  unable  to  proceed,  said:  "Sire,  I  do  not  tremble  thus  m 


GALLANT  FHANCE. 

(Print,  eighteenth  century—  touching  the 
King's  love  affaire.) 


38 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


presence  of  your  enemies,"  got 
what  he  wanted  readily  enough. 


Y  t 


LOUIS  XIV.    AS  A  YOUNG  MAN. 
(From  au[auouyinous  'picture  in  the  Louvre.) 


"  He  was,''  says  Madame  de 
Motteville,  "amiable,  kind  and 
easy  of  access  to  everybody, 
with  a  lofty  and  serious  air 
that  inspired  respect  and  fear 
in  the  public,  and  prevented 
those  whom  he  held  in  most 
consideration  from  making 
free  with  him  even  in  private, 
although  he  was  familiar  and 
merry  with  ladies." 

Says  Saint-Simon  :  "It  was 
in  this  brilliant  society  that  the 
King  assumed  the  air  of  polite- 
ness and  gallantry  which  he  re- 
tained throughout  his  whole  life, 
and  so  happily  combined  with 
propriety  and  majesty.    It  may 


be  said  that  he  was  made  for  that  Court,  and  that 
in  the  midst  of  all  the  other  men  his  stature,  his 
carriage,  his  beauty,  and  the  grand  mien 
which  survived  that  beauty,  even  to  the 
tones  of  his  voice,  and  the  alertness  and 
naturally  majestic  grace  of  all  his  person, 
caused  him  to  be  distinguished  to  the 
hour  of  his  death  as  1  the  King  of  the 
It  may  also  be  said  that,  had  he 


Dees. 


been  born  only  a  private  gentleman,  he 
would  equally  have  possessed  the  secret 
of  fêtes  and  pleasure,  of  gallantry  and 
fascination. 

"  His  gallantry  was  always  majestic, 
although  it  could  sometimes  be  gay,  and 


MEDALLION  OF  LOUIS  XIV.,   BY  BEKTINETTI. 
(Collection  of  Barou  Jérôme  Pichou.) 


LOUTS    XIV.    IN    PERSON    AND  MANNERS 


39 


in  public  there  never  was  anything  unbecoming  in  it.  But  even  to  the 
slightest  gesture,  his  walk,  his  deportment,  his  countenance,  all  was 
circumspect,  becoming,  noble,  grand,  majestic,  imposing,  and  yet  quite 
natural.  To  this  the  incomparable  and  unique  superiority  of  his  whole 
person  gave  great  facility. 


LOUIS  XIV. — MEDALLION  BY  PIERRE  PDGET. 
(Musée  île  Versailles.) 


"  In  serious  things  also,  such  as  ambassadors'  audiences,  no  man  ever 
impressed  me  so  deeply,  and  one  had  to  begin  by  accustoming  oneself 
to  see  him  if  one  would  not  run  the  risk  of  stopping  short  in  addressing 
him.  His  answers  on  these  occasions  were  always  brief,  exact,  full,  and 
very  rarely  without  something  pleasing,  sometimes  even  flattering,  when 


40 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


the  address  deserved  it.  The  respect  also  which  his  presence  inspired, 
wherever  he  might  be,  imposed  silence  and  even  a  sort  of  fear. 

"  He  loved  open-air  exercise  and  sports.  In  youth  he  excelled  in 
dancing,  pall-mall  and  tennis.  In  his  old  age  he  was  still  an  admirable 
horseman.  He  liked  to  see  all  these  things  done  with  skill  and  grace.  To 
acquit  oneself  well  or  ill  in  them  was  to  merit  or  to  lose  his  favour. 
He  said  that  things  which  were  not  necessary  ought  to  be  done  well,  or 
not  done  at  all.     He  was  very  fond  of  shooting,  and  there  was  no  such 

good  shot  as  he.  He  had 
excellent  setters,  and  kept 
seven  or  eight  in  his  rooms, 
and  liked  to  feed  them  him- 
self, so  that  they  should  know 
him.  He  was  very  fond  of 
staff-hunting;,  but  followed  on 
wheels,  after  he  broke  his  arm 
in  hunting  at  Fontainebleau, 
shortly  after  the  death  of  the 
Queen.  He  sat  alone  in  Ms 
equipage,  a  hooded  carriage 
drawn  by  four  ponies,  with  five 
or  six  relays,  and  he  drove  at 
full  speed  with  skill  equal  to 
that  of  the  best  coachman,  and 
always  as  gracefully  as  he  did 
everything  else." 

This  last  feature  is  the 
essential  note  of  the  fair  por- 
trait of  Louis  XIV.  which  Saint-Simon  has  drawn  for  us.  Majestic  and 
handsome  in  his  youth,  the  King  possessed  above  all  "grace  still  more  beau- 
tiful than  beauty."  His  ascendency  over  all  about  him  is  unfairly  judged 
if  it  be  attributed  to  authority  and  the  prestige  of  autocratic  power  only. 
Frenchmen,  on  first  approaching  him,  recognised  that  leading  quality — grace, 
and  all  combined  with  Saint-Simon  to  acknowledge  and  to  praise  it. 

La  Bruyère  depicts  him  in  his  ideal  sovereign:  "How  many  gifts  are 
needed  for  reigniug  well  ?  August  birth,  an  air  of  empire  and  authority, 
a  face  which   satisfies  the  curiosity   of  the   people,  eager  to  behold  the 


APOLLO   PRESENTING   THE  IMAGE   OF  LOUIS  XIV.    TO  FRANCE. 
(Bas-relief  in  marble  by  CoUBton. — Musée  ilu  Louvre.) 


A    PANEGYRIC    BY  RACINE 


11 


prince,  and  preserves  respect  in  the  courtier,  a  perfectly  even  temper,  a 
ready  and  pleasant  wit,  an  heart  open,  sincere,  and  into  whose  depths 
one  may  look  to  facility  in  making  friends  for  himself,  also  creatures  and 
allies,  seriousness  and  gravity  in  public,  brevity  united  with  accuracy  and 


CABINET  I1V  BOULE,  WITH  A  MEDALLION  OF  THH  KINO  IN  THE  CENTRE. 
(From  the  Collection  in  tlie  Mobilier  National, 
château  de  Versailles.— The  King's  Chamber.) 


dignity,  whether  in  addressing  ambassadors  or  in  council,  and  a  manner 
of  conferring  favours  which  doubles  their  value.' 

Racine,  praising  Titus  by  the  lips  of  Berenice,  gives  a  similar  picture 
of  Louis  XVL,  his  power  and  his  grace: — 


De  cette  nuit,  Phénice,  as-tu  vu  la  splendeur? 
Tes  yeux  ne  sont-ils  pas  tous  pleins  de  sa  grandeur 
Ces  flambeaux,  ce  bûcher,  cette  nuit  enflammée, 
Ces  aigles,  ces  faisceaux,  ce  peuple,  cette  armée, 
Cette  foule  de  rois,  ces  consuls,  ce  sénat, 
Qui  tous  de  mon  amant  empruntaient  leur  éclat  ; 
Cette  pourpre,  cet  or,  que  rehaussait  sa  gloire, 
Kt  ces  lauriers  encor  témoins  de  sa  victoire; 


Tous  ces  yeux  qu'on  voyait  venir  de  toutes  parts 
Confondre  sur  lui  seul  leurs  avides  regards; 
Ce  port  majestueux,  cette  douce  présence. 
Ciel!  avec  quel  respect  et  quelle  complaisance 
Tous  les  cœurs  en  secret  l'assuraient  de  leur  foi  ! 
Parle,  peut-on  le  voir  sans  penser  connue  moi 
Qu'en  quelque  obscurité  que  le  sort  l'eût  fait  naître, 
Le  monde,  en  le  voyant,  eût  reconnu  son  maître? 


42 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Madame  Lafayette  gives  the  same  impressions,  even  with  her  reser- 
vations. To  his  contemporaries  he  presented  a  type  of  the  finished  and 
perfect  man. 

"The  King  could  only  be  depicted  by  his  actions.  A  judgment  of 
him  may  be  formed  by  what  we  have  to  say.     He  will  be  regarded  no 

doubt  as  one  of  the  greatest  kings  that  ever 
has  been,  and  one  of  the  most  honest  men  in 
his  kingdom,  and  it  might  be  said  the  most 
perfect,  if  he  were  not  so  miserly  of  the  intellect 
that  God  has  given  him,  if  he  would  let  it 
come  out  completely,  instead  of  shutting  it 
up  so  closely  in  the  majesty  of  his  rank." 

Bestowed  by  so  clever  a  woman, 
;  this   is   no    commonplace  eulogium. 

It  explains  and  comments  upon  the 
kind  of  adoration    and    worship  of 
which  Louis  XIV.  was  the  object, 
and  which  was  offered  at  least  as 
much  to  his  person  as  to  his  rank 
and    authority.      "  Whosoever  shall 
consider,"  says  La  Bruyère,  "  that  the  face  of 
the  prince  makes  the  felicity  of  the  courtier, 
that  he  is  occupied  and  satisfied  all  his  life 
long  with  seeing  it  and  being  seen  by  it,  can 
understand  a  little  how  it  is  God  constitutes 
the  glory  and  the  happiness  of  the  saints." 

La  Bruyère  ridicules  such  adoration. 
Madame  de  Sévigné  shared  it,  and  described 
it  to  Madame  de  Guiche  on  her  return  from 
a  sojourn  at  Versailles  : — 

"  That  which  gives  me  the  utmost 
pleasure,"  she  writes,  "  is  to  pass  our  four  hours  with  the  King,  to  be  in 
his  pleasures  and  he  in  ours  ;  this  is  also  the  contentment  of  a  whole 
kingdom,  which  passionately  loves  to  behold  its  master." 

Bossuet,  while  adding  some  criticism,  so  just  that  it  enables  us  to 
regard  him,  not  as  a  courtier,  but  almost  as  a  judge,  said  before  the 
face  of  Louis  XIV.  :— 


BRONZE  BUST  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 
(Château  <le  Versailles.) 


PRAISE    AND    PRECEPT    FROM  BOSSUET 


43 


"It  is  no  flattery  of  your  Majesty,  sire,  to  tell  the  King  that  he  was 
horn  with  great  qualities.  Yes,  you  were  horn  to  attract  the  love  and 
respect  of  all  your  people.  You  ought  to  make  it  your  high  object  to  he 
feared  by  enemies  of  the  State  and  evil-doers  only  ;  let  all  the  rest  love  you, 
place  in  you  their  consolation  and  their  hope,  and  receive  relief  for  their 
ills  at  your  hands.  This,  of  all  your  obligations,  is  the  most  essential  ; 
this,  Sire,  is  what  God  com- 
mands, and  what  He  requires 
the  more  urgently  from  you, 
in  that  He  has  given  you  all 
the  qualities  for  the  execution 
of  so  fair  a  design  :  penetration, 
firmness,  kindness,  gentleness, 
authority,  patience.  ..." 

This  testimony  by  French 
writers  is  supported  by  the 
evidence  of  foreigners,  which 
may  perhaps  command  more 
implicit  credence. 

Massi,  the  ambassador  from 
the  Republic  of  Venice,  who  saw 
the  King  at  the  outset  of  his 
career,  writes,  on  the  3rd  of 
February,  1GG0  :  "I  cannot 
describe  His  Majesty,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  affability  and 
the  grace  that  he  displayed." 

Spanheim,  the  ambassador  from  Brandenburg,  saw  Louis  XIV.  thirty 
years  later,  in  the  full  splendour  of  his  reign,  and  passes  the  same 
judgment  on  him:  "The  attractions  of  his  person  are  his  figure,  his 
carriage,  air,  and  fine  bearing,  an  exterior  full  of  grandeur  and  majesty, 
and  a  bodily  constitution  fit  to  sustain  the  fatigues  and  the  burden  of  so 
great  a  post,  to  which  may  be  added  that  he  most  happily  mingles 
greatness  and  familiarity  in  his  private  conversations,  and  bears  himself  in 
them  without  either  haughtiness  or  over-condescension.  His  inclinations 
naturally  tend  to  rectitude,  justice  and  equity.  He  takes  pleasure  in  doing 
good  of  his  own  choice  or  when  moved  to  it." 


BUST  01''  LOUIS  XIV.,  BY  WAHI.V. 
(Musée  de  Versailles.) 


44 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


To  form  a  just  conclusion,  to  know  Louis  XIV.  as  he  really  was, 
without  a  shadow  of  flattery,  we  must  return  to  Saint-Simon.  Have  the 
painters  and  sculptors  of  the  period  left  us  a  picture  more  full  of  colour 
or  a  statue  more  full  of  life  than  this  ? 

"  The  stature  of  a  hero,  his  whole  figure  so  naturally  endowed  with 
majesty  that  it  was  equally  evident  in  the  slightest  gestures  and  the 
most  ordinary  actions,  without  any  air  of  pride,  but  simple  gravity  ;  so 
admirably  well  made  and  proportioned  that  sculptors  might  have  sought 
him  for  their  model  ;  a  perfect  face,  with  the  finest  countenance  and  the 
grandest  air  that  ever  man  had. 

"All  these  advantages  were  enhanced  by  the  most  natural  grace,  and, 
what  has  been  given  to  no  other,  he  wore  this  air  of  grandeur  and  majesty 
in  his  dressing-gown,  to  the  point  of  one's  being  unable  to  bear  his  glance, 
just  the  same  as  in  the  attire  of  fetes  or  ceremonies,  or  on  horseback  at  the 
head  of  his  troops.  He  had  excelled  in  all  bodily  exercises,  and  he  liked 
to  see  them  well  done.  Neither  fatigue  nor  inclemency  of  weather  told 
on  him  or  made  any  impression  on  that  heroic  face  ;  showing  through  rain, 
snow,  cold,  sweat,  or  covered  with  dust,  it  was  always  the  same. 

"  I  have  frequently  witnessed  this  with  admiration,  for,  unless  it  were 
weather  of  extreme  and  rare  severity,  nothing  kept  him  from  going  out 
every  day  and  staying  out  a  long  time. 

"  A  voice  whose  tones  answered  to  all  the  rest,  a  facility  of  speaking 
well  and  listening  courteously,  and  better  than  any  other,  much  reserve, 
politeness  always  grave,  always  majestic,  always  discriminating  according  to 
age,  rank,  sex,  and  for  the  sex  ever  that  natural  gallantry. 

"  So  much  for  the  exterior,  which  never  had  its  like  or  anything 
approaching  it." 

f 

The  taste  for  society  had  not  yet  reached  its  height  at  Court.  The 
Queen-mother,  Anne  of  Austria,  was  beginning  to  like  retirement.  The  , 
Queen  hardly  knew  the  French  language,  and  goodness  was  her  only  merit. 
Princess  Henrietta  of  England,  the  King's  sister-in-law,  contributed  to 
the  Court  circle  pleasant,  lively  conversation,  adorned  and  kept  up  by 
her  leading  of  good  books  and  her  pure  and  refined  taste.  She  studied 
the  language  of  her  adopted  country  and  became  perfect  in  it.  At 
the    time    of    her    marriage    she   wrote    French   badly.       She  inspired 


MADAME 


45 


intellectual  emulation,  and  introduced  an  elegant  politeness  and  other 
graces  at  the  Court  of  Louis  XIV.,  hardly  dreamed  of  by  the  rest  of 
Europe.  Madame  had  all  the  wit  of  (Varies  1].,  her  brother,  embellished 
by  the  charm  of  her  sex,  and  also  by  the  wish  and  the  power  to  please. 
The  Court  of  the  Sun-King  was  a  centre  of  gallantry,  tempered  and 
enhanced  by  propriety.    At  the  Court  of  Charles  II.  gallantry  also  reigned. 


LOUIS  XIV.   AND  THE  COURT  LADIES,   1  (><!"». 
(From  an  Almanac  of  the  period.) 


but  it  was  of  a  coarser  kind.  At  first  there  was  a  good  deal  of  the 
play  of  bright  wits  and  of  the  mutual  understanding  common  enough 
when  congenial  spirits  meet  frequently  at  small  entertainments.  The  King 
sent  verses  to  Madame,  she  replied,  and  the  Marquis  de  Dangeau  was 
the  confidant  of  both  in  this  amusing  exchange  of  communications,  not 
genuine  on  either  side.  The  King  employed  him  to  write  for  him,  and 
the  Princess  employed  him  to  reply  for  her.  Thus  did  he  serve  them 
both,  unsuspected  by  either;  and  this  was  one  of  the  means  by  which  his 
fortune  was  made. 


46 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


The  mutual  understanding  between  the  King  and  his  sister-in-law 
alarmed  the  royal  family.  The  King  reduced  their  association  to  terms  of 
single-minded  friendship,  which  never  altered,  thus  modifying  its  notoriety. 
When,  at  a  later  period,  Madame  set  Racine  and  Corneille  to  work  on 
the  tragedy  of  Bérénice,  she  had  in  view  not  only  the  breach  between 


FRENCH  GALLANTRY  IN  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(From  a  print  of  the  period.) 


Louis  XIV.  and  Colonne,  but  the  check  which  she  herself  had  put 
upon  her  affection  for  the  King,  lest  it  might  become  dangerous. 
Louis  XIV.  is  clearly  enough  designated  in  these  two  lines  of  Racine's 

Bérénice — 

Qu'en  quelque  obscurité  que  le  sort  l'eût  fait  naître, 
Le  monde,  en  le  voyant,  eût  reconnu  son  maître. 


These  amusements  gave  place   to   his  serious    and    lasting    passion  for 


A    UÔYAL  TOURNAMENT 


47 


Mademoiselle  de  La  Valliere,  maid  of  honour  to  Madame.  A  young  mau 
named  Belloc,  valet  de  chambre  to  the  King,  composed  several  récits,  or 
musical  recitals  with  dances  interspersed.  These  were  performed  sometimes 
in  the  Queen's  apartment,  sometimes  in  Madame's,  and  gave  sweet 
mysterious  utterance  to  the  secret  of  the  two  hearts  that  soon  ceased 
to  he  a  secret. 

All  the  public  entertainments  given  by  the  King  were  so  many  acts 


Till:  ROYAL  TOURNAMENT  IN  THE  COURTYARD  OP  THF.  TUILERIES,  1662:    A  QUADRILLE. 

(From  the  Illustrated  Collection  by  Fr.  Chauveau,  Courses  tic  tctcs  ci  de  imgucs. 
Illuminated  copy  in  the  Versailles  Library.) 


of  homage  to  his  mistress.  In  1662  a  tournament  was  held  in  the  wide 
space  in  front  of  the  Tuileries,  which  retained  thenceforth  the  name  of 
Place  du  Carrousel.  There  were  five  "quadrilles"  or  sets  of  jousters. 
The  King  was  at  the  head  of  I  he  Romans,  his  brother  led  the  Persians,  the 
Prince  de  Condé  the  Turks,  the  Due  d'Enghien  (his  son)  the  Indians,  and 
the  Duc  de  Guise  the  Americans.  This  Duc  de  Guise  was  the  grandson  of 
Le  Balafré,  and  renowned  for  the  luckless  audacity  witli  which  he  had 
attempted   to  make  himself   master  of  Naples.     His  imprisonment,  his 


4.S 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUTS  XIV. 


duels,  his  romantic  love  affairs,  his  extravagance  and  his  adventures,  made 
him  every  way  remarkable.  He  seemed  to  belong  to  another  century. 
It  was  said  of  him,  on  his  1  icing  seen  jousting  with  the  great  Condé  : 
"  There  go  the  heroes  of  history  and  fable." 

The  Queen-mother,  the  Queen,  and  the  Queen-Dowager  of  England, 
widow  of  Charles  I.,  witnessed  the  spectacle  from  a  dais.  The  Comte  de 
Sault,  son  of  the  Duc  de  Lesdiguières,  carried  off  the  prize  and  received 
it  from  the  hands  of  Anne  of  Austria. 

On  the  occasion  of  this  famous  carrousel  an  antiquary  named 
Douvrier  invented  for  Louis  XIV.  the  emblem  of  a  sun  darting  its  rays 


TH10  KINO  AS  ROMAN  KMPHROlt  AT  THU  TOURNAMENT  OF  1662. 

(Cnllectinn  ot  Courses  tic  iïtes  et  de  bagues. 
Illuminate  1  copy  in  the  Versailles  Library.) 

upon  a  globe,  with  these  words  :  "  Nee  pluribus  impar."  The  idea  bore 
some  resemblance  to  a  Spanish  device  made  for  Philip  II.,  and  more 
suitable  to  the  monarch  who  possessed  the  fairest  portion  of  the  New 
World  and  so  great  a  kingdom  in  the  old,  than  to  a  young  King  of 
France  who  as  yet  gave  only  hopes  of  a  great  future.  The  emblem  had 
a  prodigious  success.  The  King's  armorial  bearings,  the  Crown  furniture, 
tapestries  and  carriages  were  adorned  with  it.  The  King  never  used  it 
at  his  tournaments.  He  has  been  unjustly  reproached  with  the  boastfulness 
of  this  motto,  as  though  he  had  chosen  it  himself;  and  it  has  been  more 
fairly  criticised  on  its  own  account.  The  substance  does  not  represent 
what  the  legend  signifies,  and  that  legend  is  not  sufficiently  clear  and 
precise.  That  which  may  be  explained  in  many  ways  is  not  worth 
explanation.     Mottoes — a  relic  of  the  old  chivalry — are  pleasing  when  the 


THE  FÊTES 


49 


THIÎ  DUO  DR  GUISE  AS  KING  OP  THE  AMERICANS  AT  THE 
TOURNAMENT  OF  1662. 

(From  tlic  Collection  In  the  Imprimerie  Royale,  Courses  de  têtes  et  de  bayues.) 


THE  DUC  D'eNGHIEN  AS  KING  OF  THE  INDIES 
AT  THE  TOURNAMENT  OF  1662. 


allusions  arc  true,  new  and  striking;  but  it  is  better  to  have  none  than 
to   adopt    contemptible    ones,  like 
that    of    Louis    XII. — a  porcupine 
with  these  words:  "Qui  s'y  frotte, 
s'y  pique." 

The  fête  of  Versailles,  in  1664, 
surpassed  that  of  the  tournament  by 
its  singularity,  its  magnificence,  and 
the  intellectual  pleasures  which  lent 
to  the  splendour  of  the  entertainment 
a,  flavour  and  a  charm  unknown  at 
any  former  festival.  Versailles  had 
already  become  a  delightful  place 
of  abode  at  that  period,  but 
did  not  yet  approach  its  later 
grandeur. 

On  the  5th  of  May,  1665,  the 
King  came  to  the  chateau  with 
the  Court,  comprising  six  hundred 


THE  PRINCE  DE  CONDÉ  AS  EMPEROR  OF  THE  TURKS 
AT  THE  TOURNAMENT  OF  1662. 


50 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


"NEC  l'LURIBUS  1MPAR." 
(Metlal  in  houour  of  Louis  XIV.,  1664.) 


persons,  with  their  attendants.  The  expenses  of 
all,  and  also  of  those  employed  in  preparing  the 
enchanting  spectacle,  were  defrayed.  Nothing- 
was  wanting  to  these  fetes  except  buildings 
constructed  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
them,  such  as  the  Greeks  and  Romans  had  ;  but 
the  promptitude  with  which  theatres,  amphi- 
theatres and  porticoes,  ornamented  with  equal 
taste  and  magnificence,  were  erected,  was  a 
marvel,  and  as  these  were  diversified  in  a 
thousand  ways  they  added  to  the  effect  of 
the  spectacle.  The  proceedings  opened  with  a 
tournament.  Those  who  were  to  enter  the  lists  appeared  on  the  first  day  in 
review  order,  preceded  by  heralds,  pages  and  esquires,  who  carried  their 
mottoes  and  shields  ;  verses  by  Perigni  and  Benserade  were  inscribed 
on  the  latter  in  letters  of  gold.  Benserade  had  a  special  talent  for  these 
pieces  (/niantes,  in  which  he  always  made  delicate  reference  to  the 
characters  of  the  individuals,  to  the  personages  of  antiquity  or  fable  who 
were  represented,  and  to  the  love  affairs  of  the  Court.  The  King  personated 
Roger  ;  all  the  Crown  diamonds  adorned  his  costume  and  the  horse  he 
rode.    The  three  queens  and  three  hundred  ladies  witnessed  this  superb 

spectacle.  All  eyes  were  fixed  upon  His 
Majesty,  but  the  King  sought  only  those 
of  Mademoiselle  de  La  Vallière.  The 
fête  was  solely  for  her  ;  she  beheld  it 
unnoticed  in  the  crowd. 

The   cavalcade  was  followed  by  a 
gilded  car,  eighteen  feet  in  height,  fif- 
teen in  width,   and  twenty -four  in 
length,  representing  the  chariot  of  the 
Sun,  and  was  followed  on  foot  by  the 
four  Ages — gold,  silver,  bronze,  and 
iron — the  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  the  Seasons, 
and  the  Hours.    Shepherds  carried  wooden 
bars   for  the    barriers,  which    were  ad- 
justed  by   sound    of   trumpet,  succeeded 

SCREEN  FOR  THE  DAUPHIN. 

.(With  u  device  in  honour  of  the  Kiug.)  at     intervals    by    violins     and  musettes. 


THE  FÊTES 


51 


Then   came   certain    personages   who   recited  verses   appropriate   to  the 
time,   the  place,   the   King,   the  ladies,  and  the  three  queens.  When 
the  games  were  over  and  evening  had  come,  four  thousand  huge  torches 
lighted  up  the  space  where  the  fetes  were  given,  and  tables  were  served 
there    by    two   hundred   persons,  who 
represented  the  seasons,  fauns,  sylvans, 
and    dryads,    with    shepherds,  grape- 
o-atherers,  and  harvest-men.     Pan  and 
Diana  advanced  upon  a  moving  hill,  and 
stepped  down  from  it  to  bid  spread  the 
tables  with  the  most  delicious  products 
of  field   and   forest.     Suddenly,  from 
behind   the  tables,  arose  a  stage  occu- 
pied by  a  concert  orchestra  in  a  semi- 
circle.    The    arcades    surrounding  the 
tables  and  the  stage  were  adorned  with 
five   hundred   chandeliers   in    green  and 
silver,   bearing  wax-lights,   and  a  gilded 
balustrade  enclosed  the  vast  space. 

These  fêtes,  which  surpassed  the  inven- 
tions of  romance,  lasted  for  seven  days. 
The  King  won  the  prize  in  the  games  four 
times,  and  left  his  four  prizes  to  be  com- 
peted for  by  the  other  knights. 

La  Princesse  dÉUde  is  not  one  of  the 
best  comedies  of  Molière,  but  it  sensibly 
enhanced  the  pleasures  of  the  games  by 
a  multitude  of  allegories  on  the  morals 
and   manners   of   the    time,  and   by  its 
à-propos,  which  delighted   the  people  of 
those   days,   but   are   lost    to  posterity. 
Judicial  astrology  was  still  in  high  favour  at  Court  ;  several  princes  held 
the  vain-glorious  superstition  that  nature  had  distinguished  them  even  to 
the  exteiit  of  writing  their  destinies  in  the  stars.    Victor  Amadeus,  Duke 
of  Savoy,  father  of\he  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne,  had  an  astrologer  with 
him  always,  even  after  his  abdication.     Molière  ventured  to  attack  this 
craze  in  Les  Amants  Magnifiques,  which  was  played  at  a  fête  in  1670. 


LARGE  VASE  ON  THE  TERRACE  AT  VERSAILLES 
WITH  THE  ARMS  OF  THE  SUN-KING. 
(The  work  of  Dngoulon  and  Drouilly.) 


.r2 


THE    CENTURY    OE    LOUIS  XIV 


In  Les  Amants  Magnifiques  there  is  also  a  Court  fool.  These  poor 
creatures  were  still  in  fashion.  This  was  a  remnant  of  barbarism  which 
lasted  longer  in  Germany  than  elsewhere.  The  need  of  amusement,  which 
could  not  be  procured  of  a  proper  and  pleasing  kind  in  the  times  of 
ignorance  and  bad  taste,  led  to  the  adoption  of  so  degrading  a  diversion. 
The  Court  fool  at  this  period  had  formerly  belonged  to  the  Prince  de 
Condé  ;  his  name  was  l'Angeli.  The  Comte  de  Grammont  said  that  of 
all  the  fools  who  had  followed  Monsieur  le  Prince,  l'Angeli  was  the  only 


BALLET    OF  THE  GIANTS  AND  DWARFS  AT  THE  COURT  OF  LODIS  XIV. 
(From  a|primVof_the;period.) 


one  who  had  made  his  fortune.  This  buffoon  was  not  lacking  in  wit.  It 
was  he  who  said  that  he  "  did  not  go  to  the  sermon  because  he  did  like 
to  hrawl  at  it,  and  did  not  know  how  to  answer  it." 

Le  Mariage  Forcé  was  also  played  at  the  fête  of  1664.  But  the 
most  admirable  feature  of  the  entertainment  was  the  representation  of  the 
three  first  acts  of  Le  Tartufe.  The  King  desired  to  see  this  masterpiece 
even  before  it  was  finished.  He  afterwards  protected  it  against  the  sham 
devotees  who  moved  heaven  and  earth  to  suppress  it,  and  it  will  live,  as 
has  already  been  said,  "while  taste  and  hypocrites  exist  in  France." 


—EQUESTRIAN  STATUE  BY  GIKARDON  FOR  THE  PLACE 
(From  the  reduction  in  bronze  at  the  Musée  du  Louvre.) 


THE  FÊTES 


55 


For  the  most  part  these  brilliant  festivities  appeal  to  the  eye  and  ear 
only.  Mere  pomp  and  magnificence  pass  away  into  swift  oblivion;  hut 
when  masterpieces  of  art  like  Le  Tartufe  adorn  such  entertainments  the 
remembrance  of  them  is  eternal. 

Several  passages  of   the  allegories  by  Benserade,  which  formed  the 


I'llH  COURT   IN  THE  AUO  DU  TRIOMPHE  GROVE,   VERSAILLES  PARK. 
(From  a  drawing  of  the  period.— Musée  de  Versailles.) 

setting  of  the  ballets,  are  still  remembered.  I  shall  quote  only  these  lines 
written  for  the  King,  who  represented  the  Sun — 

.Jo  doute  qu'on  le  prenne  avec  vous  sur  le  ton 

De  Daphné  ni  de  Phaéton, 
Lui  trop  ambitieux,  elle  trop  inhumaine. 
Il  n'est  point  là  de  piège  où  vous  puissiez  donner: 

Le  moyen  de  s'imaginer 
Qu'une  femme  vous  fuie,  et  qu'un  homme  vous  mène? 

It  must  be  said  to  the  King's  praise  that  the  amusements  which 
brought  taste,  talent,  and  politeness  to  perfection  in  France,  did  not 
turn&  him  from  the  unremitting  labour  of  government,  without  which 
he  would  merely  have  held  a  Court  becomingly,  not  reigned  supremely 


5G 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


well  ;  and  if  the  magnificent  pleasures  of  that  Court  had  flouted  the 
poverty  of  the  people  they  would  have  been  odious  ;  but  the  same 
man  who  gave  these  fêtes  gave  bread  to  the  people  in  the  dearth 
of  1GG2.  He  sent  for  corn — which  the  rich  were  buying  at  a  low 
price — and  gave  it  away  to  poor  families  at  the  gate  of  the  Louvre  ;  he 
remitted  three  millions  of  taxes  to  the  people.  No  part  of  the  internal 
administration    of    the   kingdom    was  neglected.     His    Government  was 


THE  DETAILS  OF  A  COURTIER'S  ATTIRE. 
(From  a  contemporary  engraving,  La  Garde-robe  des  homines.) 


respected  abroad.  The  King  of  Spain  was  obliged  to  yield  precedence  to 
him  ;  the  Pope  was  forced  to  make  satisfaction  to  him  ;  Dunkirk  was  added 
to  France  ;  indeed  all  his  actions,  once  the  reins  of  power  were  in  his  own 
hands,  were  either  noble  or  useful  ;  after  that  he  did  well  to  give  fêtes. 


Voltaire's  testimony  to  the  care  with  which  Louis  XIV.  governed  his 
kingdom  in  the  midst  of  his  pleasures  is  strictly  true.     He  did  this  on 


THE    KING    TO    THE  DAUPHIN 


57 


THE  KINO  S  CHARITY. 
(Medal  by  Hanger,  1662.) 


principles  which  he  himself  dictated  at  that  epoch 
as  a  rule  of  conduct  for  his  son. 

"Thenceforth  I  made  it  a  rule  to  work  twice  a 
day,  even  after  dinner,  at  the  despatch  of  ordinary 
business,  not  foiling  to  apply  myself  at  any  other 
time  to  whatever  might  arise  unexpectedly. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  how  fruitful  I  immediately 
found  that  resolution.  I  felt  my  mind  and  my 
courage  elevated.  I  was  quite  different.  I  dis- 
covered in  myself  that  which  I  did  not  know,  and  I 
reproached  myself  with  joy  for  having  been  so  long  ignorant  of  it.  The 
first  sense  of  timidity  that  comes  with  decision  caused  me  pain,  but  it 
passed  off  in  less  than  no  time.  It  seemed  to  me  then  that  I  was,  and 
was  born  to  lie,  King. 

"  It  may  happen,  my  son,  that  you  will  begin  to  read  these  Memoirs 
at  an  age  when  one  usually  fears  rather  than  loves  work,  being  too  glad 
to  have  escaped  from  subjection  to  teachers  and  masters,  and  to  have 

no  more  fixed  hours,  no  more  long  and  un- 
certain application.  Here  I  will  only  tell 
you  that  it  is  always  by  work  one  reigns, 
and  there  is  ingratitude  to  God,  injustice  and 
tyranny  to  men,  in  desiring  the  one  without 
the  other.  Those  conditions  of  royalty, 
which    may    sometimes     seem     hard  and 


WHITING-TABLE  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH 
CENTURY. 

(Obtained  from  the  Mobilier  National. 
GarJe-lIeuble  Collection.) 


58 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


3ADENAS      OR  TABLE  DRESSY 
CASE  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 


(From  a  drawing  in  the  Cabinet  of  Prints. — Cotte  Collection.) 


vexatious  to  you,  would  appear  pleasant 
and  easy  if  it  were  a  question  of 
attaining  it." 

Louis  XIV.  might  urge  this  sound 
and  urgent  lesson  because  he  had  begun 
early  to  apply  it  to  himself.  "I  am 
aware,"  he  adds,  in  revealing  the  secret  of 
his  governing  power  to  his  son,  "  that  I 
diminish  by  so  much  the  only  or  almost  the 
only  merit  I  can  hope  for  in  the  world." 

Posterity  has  acknowledged  that  merit  in  its  entirety  on  the  faith 
of  contemporaries  who  are  above  suspicion  of  flattery. 

Saint-Simon  reproaches  Louis  XIV.  with  his  taste  for  details,  but 
really  he  praises  him  unintentionally. 

"  He  examined  into  every  particular  concerning  the  troops  :  clothing, 
arms,  evolutions,  drill,  discipline,  every  sort  of  small  detail.  He  busied 
himself  no  less  with  respect  to  his  buildings,  his  civil  household,  his 
table  expenses  extraordinary.  This  was  a  loss  of  time  to  which  the  King 
imputed  the  merit  of  assiduous  application." 

In  minutely  describing  the  daily  routine  of  the  King's  life,  Saint- 
Simon  shows  how  large  a  share  of  it  was  assigned  to  work  : — 

"At  eight  o'clock  the  first  valet  de  chambre,  who  slept  in  the 
King's  room,  and  had  dressed  himself,  awakened  His  Majesty.  The  first 
physician,  the  first  surgeon,  and  his  nurse,  so  long  as  she  lived,  entered 
at  the  same  time.     His  nurse  went  to  him  and  kissed  him,  the  others 

rubbed  him,  and  often  changed 
his  shirt. 

"  At  a  quarter  past  eight  the 
Grand  Chamberlain  and  the  Grand 
Almoner  were  summoned  and  with 
them  came  the  grandes  entrées. 
The  curtain,  which  had  been  re- 
closed,  was  opened,  and  holy  water 
from  the  bénitier  at  the  head  of  the 
bed  was  presented  to  the  King. 

"  The  office  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  then   said,   and   the  King 


FRAGMENT  OF  THE  CLOCK  IN  THE  KING  S  CABINET  AT  THE 
CHÂTEAU  DE  VERSAILLES. 
(The  work  of  Moraud  de  Pontdevaux.) 


THE    KING'S    MORNING  HOURS 


69 


dressed.  He  did  almost  everything  for  himself,  neatly  and  gracefully.  No 
dressing-table  was  within  his  reach  ;  only  a  looking-glass  was  held  for  him. 

"The  King  then  passed  into  his  cabinet.     He  was  either  followed 
thither  by  all  who  had  the  entrée,  or 
he  found  them  there.    He  then  gave 
the  order  of  the  day  to  each, 
so  that  everybody  knew  almost 
to  a  quarter  of  an  hour  what 
the  King  would  be  doingr." 

The  day's  work  began  at 
once,  with  audiences  when 
the  King  had  granted  them, 
or  when  he  wished  to  speak 
to  anybody,  and  with  private 
audience  of  the  foreign  en- 
voys  in  presence  of  the 
Minister.  The  King  then 
heard  Mass  ;  his  private  choir 
always  sang  a  motet.  During 
Mass  the  Ministers  assembled 
in  the  King's  chamber,  where 
distinguished  persons  might 
speak  with  them.  The  King 
allowed  himself  little  leisure, 
he  summoned  his  Council 
almost  immediately  after 
Mass. 

"  The  morning  was  ended. 
The  King  was  seen  no  more. 
He  remained  with  his  Ministers. 

"  On  Sunday  a  Council  of 
State  was  held,  frequently  on 
Monday  also  ;  on  Tuesday  a 
Finance  Council,  on  Wednesday  a  Council  of  State,  on  Saturday  a  Finance 
Council.  The  ordinary  dinner-hour  was  one  o'clock  ;  if  the  Council  sat 
longer  the  dinner  waited.  The  King  invariably  dined  alone  in  his  room 
at  a  square  table  set  opposite  the  central  window. 


MARBLE  STATUE  OF  LOUIS  XIV.,   BY  JEAN  WAKIN. 
(In  the    Salon  de  Vénus.— Musée  de  Versailles.) 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


I 


KNIFE,  SPOON  AND  FORK  USED  BY  LOUIS  XIV. 
(From  a  drawing  in  the  Cabinet  of  Prints. — Cotte  Collection.) 

"  On  rising  from  table  the   King  entered  his  cabinet  immediately, 
lis  was  the  time  to  have  a  few  minutes  speech  of  him.     Then  he  went 
out  by  the  back  way,  down  his  private  staircase  into  the 
Marble  Court,  and  got  into  his  carriage. 

"  As  he  was  hardly  at  all  sensitive  to  either  cold  or 
heat,  or  even  to  rain,  only  very  bad  weather  indeed 
prevented  him  from  going  out  every  day.  He  went  out 
with  three  purposes  only  ;  to  hunt  the  stag  at  least  one 
day  in  the  week,  but  frequently  more  ;  to  shoot  in  his 
parks  ;  and  on  the  other  days  to  visit  and  inspect  the 
work  in  progress  in  the  gardens  and  the  buildings.  Then 
there  were  occasional  promenades  with  the  Court  ladies 
and  collations  for  them." 

At  ten  o'clock  His  Majesty  was  "  served."  The  King 
always  supped  in  state  with  the  royal  household. 

We  are  bound  to  admire  the  clockwork  order  and 
regularity  of  this  daily  routine,  laid  out  for  work  rather 
than  for  fetes  and  representation.  Here  is  a  detail  to 
the  point  :  "  Every  day  while  the  King  is  dressing,  the 
watchmaker  comes  to  regulate  the  timepieces 

in  his  room         ^SS\l       aut^  ^he  °ther  apartments,  and 
even  the  watch  that        ^  ^.dr       the  King  wears  ;  this  he  places  on  a 

table  in  the  cabinet. 

"  Nothing  could  be  more  exact 
than  the  regulation  of  his  hours 
and  days  in  the  diversity  of 
places,  business  and  amusements. 
With  an  almanac  and  a  watch 
one  might  tell  exactly  what  he 
was  doing  three  hundred  leagues 
away.  He  recjuired  great  exact- 
ness in  his  service,  but  he  was 
exact  in  it  himself." 


GOLD  WATCH  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(From  the  Collection  of  M.  Charles  Rossigueux.) 


THE    KING'S  DAY 


61 


Saint-Simon  remarks  on  this  point  :  "  The  benefit 
to  his  service  of  the  King's  precision  was  incredible.  It 
imposed  orderliness  on  everybody,  and  secured 
despatch  and  facility  in  his  affairs  ;  while  his 
constant  residence  out  of  Paris  caused  a  con- 
tinual coming  together  of  officials  and  persons 
employed,  which  kept  everything  going,  got 
through  more  business,  and  gave  more  access  to 
Ministers  and  their  various  bureaux  in  one  day 
than  would  have  been  possible  in  a  fortnight 
had  the  Court  been  in  Paris." 

Spanheim  confirms  this  eulogium,  and  the 
foreigner    is  most 
likely  to  be  correct. 
"  He  [the  King]  had  at  the  same  time,  and 
at  so  little  advanced  an  age  as  twenty-three 
years,  great  application  to  business,  assiduity 
at  the  councils,  discretion  in  deliberation, 
and  firmness   in    the  execution  of  formed 
resolutions.      He     was  assisted 


GOLD  WATCH-CASE  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH 
CENTURY. 

(From  the  Collection  of  M.  Charles  Rosslgneux.) 


Ill 


this  by  a  naturally  cool,  calm  tem- 
perament which  made  him  master  of 
himself  and  his  impulses,  and  belongs 
rather  to  a  grave,  serious  and  reserved 
disposition  than  to  a  free,  hearty  and 
open  nature.  By  this  he  scattered 
all  the  factions  of  the  past,  caused 
the  nobles  to  return  to  their  duty  ; 
sovereign  courts  to  dependence  ;  and 
the  people  to  their  obedience.  He 
also  removed  the  pretexts  for  dis- 
order and  disturbance  formerly 
urged  against  the  Government. 

"  So  that  it  may  be  gathered 
from  what  I  have  just  said  that  His 
Majesty,  without  having  a  brilliant, 
broad  or  enlightened  intellect,  has 


CLOCK  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

(From  the  Collection  iu  the  Mobilier  National. — Château  de  Fontainebleau.  ) 


62 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


sufficient  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  a  great  King,  that  he  is  in  his  proper 
place,  that  he  can  discriminate,  and  has  discernment  enough  not  to  allow 
himself  to  be  taken  in,  and  to  do  justice  to  merit  where  he  finds  it." 

Facts  testify,  even  more  strongly  than  men,  to  the  value  set  by 
Louis  XIV.  on  steady  daily  work  and  precise  information.  A  striking 
example  of  this  was  afforded  in  1678  by  the  disgrace  of  Pomponne,  the 
Minister  who  had  signed  the  Peace  of  Nimeguen,  but  forfeited  the 
friendship  of  the  King  by  negligence  at  the  full  tide  of  his  fortune. 
Saint-Simon  relates  the  occurrence  as  follows  : — 

"  A  courier,  whose  coming  was  impatiently  expected,  arrived  on  a 


TOP  OF  A  CHEST  OF  DRAWERS  BY  BOULE. 
(From  the  Collection  at  the  Mobilier  National. — Château  de  Fontainebleau.  I 


Thursday  evening.  The  marriage  of  the  Dauphiness  in  Bavaria  was  the 
affair  in  question,  and  the  decision  on  the  matter  was  to  be  conveyed  by 
this  particular  express.  M.  de  Pomponne  gave  the  despatches  to  be 
deciphered — an  affair  of  twenty-four  hours — and  told  the  courier  not  to  show 
himself.  The  man  however,  considering  his  employer  first,  delivered  the 
letters  which  he  also  carried  to  the  family — no  other  than  that  of  the 
great  Colbert — and  the  family  imparted  their  contents  to  the  King,  who 
was  impatient  to  know  what  was  being  deciphered.  Thursday  evening, 
the  whole  of  Friday  and  Saturday,  until  five  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
passed,   and   the    despatches   had   not    been   received.     The  deciphered 


tJirxnZêd \*tu  prances  y+np  Ch  Wtttmnr 


THE    FALL    OF  POMPONNE 


63 


LOUIS  XIV. — MARHI.U  HI  ST  BY  COYSKVOX. 
(Musée  de  Versailles.) 


to  command  him  to  retire  because  every 
thing  that  is  done  through  him  loses 
magnitude  and  power.  If  I  had  made  up 
my  mind  to  remove  him  sooner  I  should 
have  avoided  the  trouble  that  I  have  in- 
curred, and  I  should  not  have  to  reproach 
myself  with  complacence  which  has  perhaps 
been  harmful  to  the  State." 

The   other   Ministers,  especially  the 
chief  among  them,  Colbert  and  Louvois, 
who  were  competing  with  each  other 
for  Pomponne's  place,  owed  the  King's 
favour  to  their  indefatigable  attention 
to  business. 

Spanheim,  who  did  not  like  him, 
bears  the  following  testimony  to 
Louvois  : — 

"  Such  a  post  could  hardly  be  filled 
with  greater  vigilance  and  personal 
attention  to  all  that  concerned  and 


documents  reached  Pomponne  at  his  country 
1  louse  on  Friday  evening;  he  started  at  ten 
o  clock  on  Saturday  evening,  but  he 
was  too  late.  On  his  arrival,"  says 
Saint-Simon,  "he  found  an  order 
from  the  King  to  send  in  his  de- 
spatches and  his  resignation,  and  to 
return  to  Pomponne." 

"  The  post  that  I  gave  him,"  says 
Louis  XIV.,  "was  too  great  for 
him.  I  suffered  for  years  from  his 
weakness,  obstinacy,  and  want  of 
application  ;  he  has  caused  me  con- 
siderable losses.  I  have  not  profited 
by  all  the  advantages  that  I  might 
have  had;  and  all  this  from  kind- 
ness and  compliance.     I  am  obliged 


AN  ARM-CHAIR  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(From  the  Collection  of  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon.) 


64  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

was  related  to  it.  The  habit  of  both  which  he  had  adopted  in  his  youth, 
gave  him  the  facility  that  such  a  post  demanded.  He  was  also  aided 
by  the  strict  order  which  he  carried  into  the  superintendence  and  the 
expedition  of  the  affairs  of  his  department,  into  the  selection  of  the  clerks, 
and  into  the  distribution  of  the  functions  assigned  to  them  according  to 

capacity,  and  each  had  to 
render  an  account  to  himself. 
It  ensued  from  this  regularity 
and  exactness  that  his  own 
toil  was  eased  ;  that  nothing 
was  neglected  ;  and  that  those 
who  had  to  deal  with  him — 
no  small  number — soon  came 
to  know  how  they  stood." 

Colbert  gives  him  similar 
praise:  "Luxury  and  diver- 
sions were  banished  from  his 
dwelling  that  he  might  devote 
himself  entirely  to  a  post  of 
such  importance.  Not  content 
to  make  himself  acquainted 
with  the  bulk  of  affairs  and 
then  relieve  himself  of  them 
by  means  of  the  clerks, 
(From  me  portrait  by  a.  Lefebvre.)  stewards,     comptrollers,  and 

other  people  employed  in  the 
business  of  finance,  he  chose  to  take  the  care  of  all  upon  himself  alone, 
to  enter  into  all  the  details,  receipts  and  expenses,  and  the  supplying  of 
expedients  for  the  future.  He  relied  upon  nothing  but  his  own  judgment 
and  capacity,  the  exact  information  which  he  took  pains  to  acquire, 
the  regulations  which  he  found  it  necessary  to  make,  and  lastly,  the 
correct  private  registers  which  he  himself  kept.  Thus  did  he  discharge 
the  duties  of  his  post  with  indefatigable  and  unremitting  labour  and 
application,  in  proportion  to  the  needs  of  the  State  or  the  conjuncture 
of  affairs." 

In  a  word,  like  master  like  ministers.  This  is  the  secret  of  the 
greatness  of  the  reign. 


THE    KING'S  AUDIENCES 


65 


A  MEDAL  BY  FALTZ  IN   HONOUR  OF  THF  KING'S  COUNCILS. 


(1664.)  Cardinal  Chigi, 
the  legate  à  latere,  who 
was  the  nephew  of 
Pope  Alexander  VII., 
afforded  a  novel  spec- 
tacle to  the  Court  on 
coming  to  Versailles  in 
the  midst  of  all  the 
rejoicings  to  "make 
satisfaction  "  to  the  King  for  the  offence  of  the  Pope's  guards. 

The  honours  paid  to  the  legate  emphasised  the  "  satisfaction."  He 
received,  under  a  canopy,  the  respects  of  the  clergy,  the  superior  courts, 
and  the  civic  corporations.  He  entered  Paris  under  a  salute  of  guns, 
having  the  great  Coudé  on  his  right  and  the  Prince's  son  on  his  left,  and 
with  all  this  parade  he  came  to  humble  himself  and  the  Pope  before 
a  King  who  had  not  yet  drawn  the  sword.  After  the  audience  he 
dined  with  Louis  XIV.,  and 
everybody  was  solicitous  to 
make  his  mission  as  pleasant 
as  possible. 

The  Doge  of  Genoa  was 
afterwards  entertained,  with 
lesser  honours,  but  with  the 
desire  to  please  which  the  King 
always  combined  with  the 
haughtiest  of  his  actions. 

The  Doge  of  Genoa  was 
in  fact  a  less  important  per- 
sonage than  the  Pope's  legate, 
as  may  readily  be  conceived. 
Nevertheless  his  presence  at 
Versailles  was  celebrated  by  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  fêtes  of  the 
period     Le  Mercure  de  France      pyramid  erected  in  home  in  memory  of  the  satisfaction 

of  the  16th  of  March,   1685,  corsican  matter. 

K 


66 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


has  preserved  for  us  a  detailed  and  precise  description,  enabling  us  to 
reconstitute  the  beautiful  exterior  decoration  of  the  Chateau  of  Versailles 
at  the  most  brilliant  period  of  the  reign  of  the  Sun-King. 

"  Having    ascended  the  magnificent    staircase   leading    to    the  chief 

apartment  of  His  Majesty  (the  Ambassadors' 
Staircase,  no  longer  existing),  in  the  left 
wing  of  the  château,  visitors  entered  the 
Salon  de  la  Guerre,  which  joins  the  gallery 
at  the  end,  and  from  this  salon  they 
turned  into  the  gallery,  beyond  which 
was  the  King,  in  the  salon  facing  that 
they  had  just  passed  through  (the  Salon 
de  la  Paix). 

"  Two  things  are  to  be  remarked,  one 
is  that  the  apartment  and  the  gallery  were 
magnificently  furnished,  and  contained 
several  millions'  worth  of  silver  plate  ;  the 
other  is  that  the  crowd  was  equally 
numerous  everywhere,  although  that 
apartment  and  that  gallery  put  together 
could  hold  as  many  people  as  the  largest 
palace.  Whatever  pains  had  been  taken 
to  leave  free  passage  along  the  gallery, 
the  Doge  had  great  difficulty  in  getting 
through  it.  The  Maréchal  Duc  de  Duras, 
Captain  of  the  Guard,  who  had  received 
him  at  the  door  of  the  guard-room, 
accompanied  him  to  the  foot  of  His  Majesty's  throne,  which  was  of  silver, 
and  raised  two  steps  only.  The  Dauphin  and  Monsieur  stood  beside  the 
King,  who  was  surrounded  by  all  the  princes  of  the  blood,  and  those 
among  his  great  officers  who  have  rank  near  his  person  in  ceremonies  of 
this  kind. 

"  So  soon  as  the  Doge  came  in  sight  of  the  King  he  uncovered  ;  he 
then  advanced  a  few  steps  and  made  two  deep  reverences  to  His  Majesty, 
the  senators  doing  likewise.  The  King  rose,  and  having  acknowledged 
these  salutations  by  slightly  raising  his  hat,  made  them  a  sign  to 
approach,  beckoning  them  with  his  hand. 


THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  FRANCE  ACKNOWLEDGED 
BY  SPAIN. 

(Marble  Vase  by  Coysevox.— Terrace,  Versailles.) 


COMPOSITION  BY  LEBRUN,  BAS-RELIEF  BY  COYSEVOX  IN  HONOUR  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  AS  CONQUEROR. 
"  History  registers  his  victories — l  ame  publishes  them." 
(Snluu  île  la  Guerre.— Château  de  Versailles.) 


KING    AND  DOGE 


69 


VASES  AND  DISHES  OK  GOLD  AND  SILVEB  FOB  THK  DECORATION  OK  THE  APARTMENTS. 
(From  the  picture  of  the  baptism  of  the  l)uupuiu  by  Christophe. — Musée  du  Versailles.) 


"The  Doge  then  ascended  the  first  step  of  the  throne,  where  he  made 
a  third  reverence.  After  this  the  King  and  the  Doge  resumed  their  hats, 
and  the  speeches  began." 

To  complete  its  picture  of  the  pomp  of  this  great  event,  the  Mercure 
gives  a  description  of  the  ornaments  in  silver  which  were  displayed 
in  the  incomparable  reception-room:  "Eight  silver  portable  stands  with 
four  handles  [brancards),  bearing  chandeliers,  placed  between  four  silver 
orange-tree  tubs  on  stands  of  the  same  metal,  adorn  the  spaces  between 
the  windows,  and  eight  silver  vases 
occupy  portable  stands  by  the  side  of 
the  doors.  Four  tall  gilded  stands 
in  the  corners  support  huge  silver 
candlesticks.  Eight  silver  branched 
candlesticks  occupy  the  centre  of 
the  glass  windows.  ' 

Dangeau  adds  that  porphyry  vases 
brought  from  Home,  little  ships  of  finely 
wrought  alabaster,  and  silver  ewers  and 
flagons  in  profusion  formed  part  of  the 
rich  decoration. 

What  a  scene  for  stately  ceremonial, 


silver  portable  stand  (brancard). 

tfl'rom  tin'  picture  by  Lebrun  and  Sève  of  Lmiis  XIV. 
aux  Gobdira. — Musée  de  Versailles.) 


70 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


for  audiences,  for  great  Court  or  family  events,  or  even  for  the  King's 
receptions  only,  which  took  place  once  a  week,  and  were  called  les  apparte- 
ments.    Saint  Simon,  who  frequented  these  receptions  at  sixteen,  says  : — 

"  What  was  called  appartement  was  the 
assemblage  of  the  whole  Court  from  seven 
o'clock  to  ten  in  the  evening  ;  the  King's 
supper  was  served  in  the  great  apartment 
extending  from  the  Salon  de  la  Paix  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  gallery  of  the  chapel. 

"  First  there  was  music,  then  tables  set 
out  in  all  the  rooms  ready  for  all  sorts  of 
games:  lansquenet, at  which  Monseigneur  [the 
Dauphin]  and  Monsieur  [the  Duc  d'Orléans] 
always  played  ;  billiards — in  short,  entire 
freedom  to  play  with  whomsoever  one  would, 
and  to  call  for  tables  if  those  already  set  were 
occupied.  Beyond  the  billiard  table  was  a 
room  where  refreshments  were  laid,  and  the 
whole  suite  was  brilliantly  lighted. 

"  At  first,  when  this  order  of  things  was 
established,  the  King  went  there  and  played 
for  some  time.  In  1692  he  left  oft'  doing 
this,  but  he  wished  his  courtiers  to  be 
assiduous  in  their  attendance,  and  everybody 
was  eager  to  please  him." 
The  Mercure  resumes  : — 
"  The  King  permits  the  entree  of  his 
grand  appartement  at  Versailles  on  Monday, 
Wednesday  and  Thursday  in  each  week  for 
playing  all  sorts  of  games  ;  these  days  are 
(■ailed  jours  d'appartement. 

"  Each  person  admitted  may  walk  about 
in  these  superb  apartments  at  the  hour  named 
for  the  reception.  No  one  presents  himself 
>eforehand  that  the  entrée  will  be  accorded.  The  choice 
of  games  is  free  to  everyone,  and  those  who  prefer  to  look  on  while 
others  play,  or  to  stroll  round  and  admire  the  assembly  and  the  splendid 


DOOR  GIVING  ACCESS  TO  THE  AMBASSADORS' 
STAIRCASE  IN  THE  KING'S  APARTMENT. 
(Château  de  Versailles.) 


without  knowing 


THE    "GRANDS  APPARTEMENTS" 


71 


A  FIXED  STOOL. 
(Fiom  a  print  in  the  Henuin  Collection.) 


salons,  may  do  so  at  their  pleasure. 
Though  the  rooms  be  ever  so  full,  none  but 
persons  of  high  rank,  both  men  and  women, 
are  to  be  seen  there. 

"The  King,  the  Queen  and  the  whole 
of  the  royal  family  lay  aside  their  greatness 
to  take  part  in  the  play  with  several 
persons  in  the  assembly  who  have  never  had 
;i  similar  honour.  The  King  goes  now  to 
one  table,  now  to  another.  It  is  his  wish 
that  none  shall  rise  or  leave  off  playing  at 
his  approach.  After  some  time  music  strikes 
up  and  those  who  like  to  dance  may  do  so.  Then  the  company  resort  to 
the  refreshment  tables,  where  they  find  a  collation  and  liqueurs  served 
with  incomparable  elegance  and  readiness.  The  attendants  wear  blue  coats 
with  gold  lace. 

"  Whatever  one  can  possibly  desire  among  the  pleasure-giving  things 
m  these  splendid  rooms  is  supplied  immediately  on  the  indication  of  such 
wishes.  The  attendants  seem  indeed  to  divine  them,  for  they  present 
the  object  on  the  instant," 

The  Mercure  also  describes  the  rooms  set  apart  for  the  collations, 
and  more  particularly  for  play. 

The  Salle  de  Vénus,  which  now  retains  only  the  wall-decoration  of 
that  period,  was  furnished  with  tables 
bearing  silver  candlesticks  and  bas- 
kets of  silver  filigree  work  of  various 
shapes.  "Fresh fruits, lemons, oranges, 
confectionery,  and  dried  sweets  of 
every  kind,  were  piled  up  in  pyramids 
in  these  baskets,  and  adorned  with 
flowers.  As  this  collation  was 
only  served  to  be  consumed,  it  was 
accessible  during  the  four  hours' 
duration  of  les  appartements." 

The  Salon  de  Mars  had  marble 
galleries  intended  for  the  musicians  ; 

1  ,  ,  ,  A  FOLDING  STOOL. 

these  have  been  removed.  (From  the  Collection  of  Barou  Jér5me  pichon  ) 


72 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


A  GOLDEN  EWER. 


"  Six  groups  of  silver  figures,  four  statues, 
and  four  ewers  of  the  same  metal,  a  foot  and  a 
half  high,  adorn  the  two  cabinets.  Two  oval 
silver  basins,  four  feet  high  and  six 
feet  wide,  bear  vases  two  feet  high,  and 
four  pails  of  the  same  height  go  with 
these.    Four  great  ewers,  six  feet  high, 

are  at  the  two  angles   Silver 

dogs  and  vases  adorn  the  chimney." 

The  Mercure  says,  in  conclusion  : 
"It  was  said  formerly,  in  exaggera- 
tion of  the  facts,  that  laughter  and 
play  were  at  Court  ;  but  this  was 
only  a  manner  of  speaking  :  it  is 
only  now  they  are  really  to  be 
found   there.     Besides,  never  before 


(Cartoon  by  Lebrun,  Château  de 

Foutainebieau.-Musée  <ie  Versailles.)  was  so  splendid  an  abode  made  for 


SILVER  VASE. 

(Cartoon  by  Lebrun,  Château  de 
Madrid. — Musée  de  Versailles.) 

them.  Nothing  is  to  be  seen  in  the  places  destined  for  them  but  a 
dazzling  collection  of  riches  and  lights,  multiplied  a  thousand  times  in  as 

many  glasses,  forming  a  perspective  that  sparkles  like 
fire,  with  a  thousand  things  equally  and  even  more 
brilliant  within  it. 

"  Add  to  this  the  splendour  of  the  Court  in  their 
rich  attire,  and  the  lustre  of  the  jewels  worn  by  most 
of  the  ladies." 

The  official  journalist  does  not  exaggerate.  Madame 
de  Sévigné,  while  still  under  the  first  impression  of  all 
this  magnificence,  has  described  the  wonders  of  the 
appartement  where  Dangeau  reigned  as  the  alter  ego 
of  the  King  and  his  lieutenant  at  Court.  This  was  in 
1676,  the  most  brilliant  period  of  all,  while  Madame 
de  Montespan  was  in  favour. 

"  I  was  at  Versailles  on  Saturday  with  the  Villars. 
This  was  how  it  was.    At  three  o'clock  the  King,  the 
silver  orange-tree  tub       Queen,  Monsieur,  Madame,  Mademoiselle,  Madame  de 

EMBELLISHED  WITH  GOLD  -»«•  ,      -,  '^11,1  .  •  n 

and  precious  stones.  Montespan,  the  whole  suite,  all  the  courtiers,  all 
tt«.bl3iîS;CM«o      the   ladies>  in    short    what   is  called  the   Court  of 


THE    ROYAL  POMP 


73 


THE  KING  S  FOOTMEN  CARRYING  THE  COLLATION 
ON  A  PORTABLE  STAND. 

(Cartoon  by  Lebrun,  Château  des  Toileries.   Scries  of  The  Seasons. 
Musée  du  Louvre.) 


France  come  together  in  that 
fine  apartment  which  you 
know.  The  furniture  is 
-  superb,  everything  is  magnifi- 
cent. No  one  feels  too  hot 
there  (in  July)  ;  one  passes 
from  salon  to  salon  without 
crowding  anywhere;  the 
players  at  reversi*  form  the 
centre  of  attraction.  The 
King  is  beside  Madame  de 
Montespan,  who  holds  the 
card  ;  Monsieur,  the  Queen 
and  Mademoiselle  de  Soubise,  Dangeau  and  Comtesse  Langlée  are 
playing.  1  watched  Dangeau  playing,  and  I  was  amused  to  think  what 
fools  we  are  beside  him.  He  thinks  of  nothing  but  what  he  is  doing, 
and  wins  where  others  lose;  he  neglects  nothing;  he  profits  by  every- 
thing. His  mind  docs  not  wander.  In  a  word,  his  perfect  skill 
defies  fortune.  The  hundred  thousand  francs  in  ten  days,  the  hundred 
thousand  crowns  in  a  month  are  all  entered  in  his  book  of  receipts.  I 
said  that  1  was  taking  part  in  his  game,  so  that  I  was  given  a  very 
comfortable  and  pleasant  seat.  I  saluted  the  King;  he  returned  my  bow 
as  though  I  were  young  and  beautiful.  The  Queen  talked  to  me  of  my 
illness  for  a  long  time.  Madame  de  Montespan  talked 
to  me  of  Bourbon.  .  .  .  Her  beauty  is  a  surprising 
thing.  .  .  .  She  was  dressed  entirely  in  French 
point,  her  hair  dressed  in  a  thousand 
ringlets — in  short,  a  triumphant  beauty 
to  captivate  all  the  ambassadors. 

Madame  de  Sévigné  describes  else- 
where a  gown  which  had  been  presented 
to  the  King's  mistress  by  one  of  the 
most  anient  gamblers  at  Court,  when  in 


A  gown  of  gold  on  gold, 


the  winning  vein  : 

embroidered  in  gold,  bordered  with  gold,  over 
raised  gold,  and  brocaded  with  one  gold  mixed 


A   ROAT  OF  GOLD  AND  LAPIS-LAZULI,  WITH 
THE  L.-L.  INTERLACED. 


*  An  obsolete  game  of  cards. 


(Cartoon  by  Lebrun.  Louvre.) 


74 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


with  a  certain  gold  which  makes  the  most  divine  stuff  that  ever  has  been 
imagined.    The  fairies  have  done  this  work  in  secret." 

The  Princess  Palatine,  who  also  knew  how  to  observe  and  take  notes, 

although  in  a  different  manner,  has  pre- 
served an  exact  record  of  the  incomparable 
splendour  of  these  costumes,  particularly  on 
days  of  high  ceremonial. 

"  The  crowd  was  so  great  that  one  had 
to  wait  a  quarter  of  an  hour  at  each  door 
before  getting  in,  and  I  had  on  a  gown 
and  underskirt  so  horribly  heavy  that 
I  could  hardly  stand  upright. 

"  My  costume  was  of  raised  gold, 
with  black  chenille  forming  flowers, 
and  my  pearl  and  diamond  set. 
Monsieur  wore  a  coat  embroidered  in  gold 
and  various  colours,  and  all  covered  with 
precious  stones.  My  daughter  wore  a  gown 
of  green  velvet  embroidered  in  gold,  the 
open  gown  and  the  underskirt  being  entirely 
trimmed  with  rubies  and  diamonds,  as  well 
as  the  bodice  ;  the  embroidery  was  so  well 
done  that  each  rose  seemed  to  grow  from 
the  stuff.  Her  head-dress  consisted  of 
several  tokens  in  brilliants,  bodkins  with 
ruby  heads,  and  gold  ribbon  studded  with 
diamonds." 

In  those  extraordinary  days  the  King 
and  his  family  wore  quantities  of  diamonds 
and  other  precious  stones.  Again  in  1714, 
when  he  received  the  Ambassador  of  Siam, 
Dangeau  says  :  "  The  King  chose  a  coat  of  black  and  gold  stuff  edged 
with  diamonds  to  the  value  of  twelve  millions  five  hundred  thousand 
livres,  and  the  coat  was  so  heavy  that  he  changed  it  immediately  after 
his  dinner.  Besides  the  precious  stones  which  he  wore  he  had  lent  a 
trimming  of  diamonds  and  pearls  to  the  Duc  du  Maine  and  a  trimming 
of  coloured  stones  to  the  Comte  de  Toulouse  ;  the  Duc  d'Orléans  had  a 


ONYX  VASE. 
(Gallery  of  Mirrors. — Château  de  Versailles.  ) 


THE    ROYAL  POMP 


75 


GOLD  PEliEUME-liURNER. 
(Alter  the  picture  by  Hallé,  La  Réception  du  Doije  de  Gênes. 
Musée  de  VersaiUes.) 


blue  velvet  coat  embroidered  in  pearls  and 
diamonds  in  a  mosaic  design  that  was  much 
admired." 

When  opportunities  for  the  wearing 
of  these  magnificent  costumes  arose,  their 
splendour  made  up  for  their  cumbrous- 
ness.  These  occasions  were,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  audiences  given  to  foreign 
ambassadors,  and  marriages  and  births 
in  the  royal  family. 

The  Court  in  all  this  splendour 
passed  along  the  Gallery  of  Mirrors.  The  crowd  of  spectators  was  very 
great,  but  good  order  was  observed  on  the  passage  of  the  procession  to 
the  chapel,  and  on  its  return  by  the  staircase,  the  "appartement"  and  the 
gallery. 

This  march  past  must  have  been  a  fine  sight,  and  no  less  fine  the 
balls,  or  grand  entertainments,  which  were  given  during  the  carnival. 

"  This  winter,"  says  the  Mercure,  "  five  balls  extraordinary  have  been 
given  in  five    different  apartments  in  the  Chateau  of  Versailles,  all  so 

grand  and  so  beautiful  that  no 
other  royal  house  in  the  world 
could  furnish  so  great  a  number 
on  so  vast  a  scale. 

"  The  entrée  is  not  open 
except  to  masks,  and  few 
persons  ventured  to  present 
themselves  there  without  being- 
disguised.  As  these  disguises 
are  assumed  for  the  purpose  of 
general  amusement  rather  than 
for  a  display  of  fine  attire,  and 
everyone  is  so  well  dressed  at 
Court  that  they  need  nothing 
more  than  a  mask  worn  with 
their  ordinary  garments  to 
appear  in  superb  array,  it  was 

THE  PRINCESS  PALATINE,   DUCHESSE  D  ORLEANS,   MOTHER  -CT  r  J  » 

of  the  regent.  (Widcd    f« >r  the  more  effectual 

(From  the  portrait  by  Rigau.I.-Musée  . le  Versailles.)  UeUUtU     lOi    UR     IllOie  eilCCLUai 


7G 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


diversion  of  the  company,  that  masks  with  grotesque  costumes  should 
be  worn. 

"  Some  outlandish  ones  were  displayed  ;  one  did  not  know  what  to 
call  them  because  they  were  purely  an  effect  of  the  imagination  of  the 
inventors.     In  resuscitating  the   old   fashions   the   most  ridiculous  were 

chosen,  and  these  were  improved  upon 
until  the  dresses  were  made  completely 
absurd.  Exaggeration  was  actually 
extended  to  the  use  of  trimmings  of 
porcelain  that  moved  and  sounded. 

"  The  Dauphin  having  his  dress 
changed  eight  or  ten  times  each  evening, 
M.  Bérain  required  all  his  talent  to 
furnish  him  with  costumes,  and  all  his 
vigilance  to  get  them  made,  so  little 
time  was  there  between  the  balls. 
The  Dauphin  particularly  desired  to 
pass  without  recognition,  so  that  every 
sort  of  extraordinary  device  for  dis- 
guising him  was  resorted  to,  and 
frequently  it  was  impossible  to  guess 
whether  the  masked  figure  was  tall 
or  short,  stout  or  thin.  Sometimes 
double  masks  were  worn,  and  wax 
masks  so  well  made  under  a  first  mask, 
that  when  the  latter  was  removed  the 
bystanders  took  the  former  for  the 
natural  face. 

"  Monsieur,  who  is  always  dressed 
in  good  taste,  has  frequently  appeared  at  these  balls  in  ordinary  attire, 
but  so  magnificent  and  so  becoming  that  nothing  could  be  added  to  its 
beauty  and  richness.  At  other  times  the  Prince  has  worn  the  most  amusing 
disguises  and  surprised  everybody  by  their  novelty." 

This  brilliant  picture,  which  the  Courts  of  Europe  strove  to  copy,  was 
not  without  its  shadows  ;  these — Voltaire  has  perhaps  softened  them  too 
much — did  not  escape  the  criticism  of  contemporaries,  that  of  Saint-Simon 
especially. 


GROTESQUE  MASKS  AND  COSTUMES  FOR  THE  BALLET 
OF  1682  AT  VERSAILLES. 

(Drawing  ami  jilau  of  execution  by  Bérain,  from  a 
MS.  in  the  Versailles  Library.) 


FETES    AND  GAMING 


77 


"  He  [Louis  XIV.]  loved  splendour,  magnificence,  profusion  in  every- 
thing. He  turned  this  taste  into  a  maxim,  from  policy,  and  wholly 
inspired  his  Court  with  it.  To  rush  recklessly  into  that  splendour  and 
profusion  in  table  expenditure,  in  dress,  in  equipage,  in  building  and  in 
play,  was  to  please  the  master:  he  would  be  certain  to  speak  to  the 
persons  who  did  this.  There  lay 
at  the  bottom  of  it,  however, 
the  fact  that  lie  kept  them  on 
the  stretch  and  exhausted  their 
resources  by  thus  making 
luxury  an  honour—  for  certain 
parties  a  necessity — so  that  by 
degrees  they  were  reduced  to 
depend  entirely  on  his  bounty 
for  subsistence.  His  pride  was 
gratified  by  a  Court  superb  in 
every  way,  and  by  a  great  con- 
tusion which  increasingly  tended 
to  efface  natural  distinctions. 

"  This  was  a  sore  which, 
being  set  up,  has  since  de- 
veloped into  the  internal  cancer 
that  is  eating  up  private  persons' 
lives.  It  has  spread  rapidly 
from  the  Court  to  Taris,  to  (he 
provinces  and  the  army,  where 
men  in  place  are  of  account  only 
in  proportion  to  their  table 
and  their  display.     It  preys  on 

private  people  since  its  unfortunate  introduction,  by  obliging  those  who 
are  in  a  position  to  steal  to  do  so,  for  the  most  part  from  the  necessity 
of  keeping  up  their  expenditure  ;  and  by  the  confounding  of  different 
ranks  in  life,  which  are  now  maintained  from  pride,  and  even  from 
propriety,  it  is  increasing,  through  the  folly  of  the  majority,  with  infinite  ill 
consequences,  and  tends  to  nothing  less  than  general  ruin  and  downfall." 

This  state  of  things  was  so  real  that  one  day  Louis  XIV.  thought 
he  was  ruined  at  play.     "He  had   been  playing  high  for  a  long  time. 


COSTUME  FOB  THK  BALLET  OK   1682  AT  VERSAILLES. 

(Drawing  and  plan  of  execution  by  Béraiu,  from 
a  M.s.  in  the  Versailles  Library.) 


78 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Madame  de  Montespan  urged  him  on  beyond  measure.  In  one  night  he 
had  lost  .several  millions.  He  left  the  table  towards  the  morning  and 
desired  the  players  to  remain,  so  that  Madame  de  Montespan  might  recoup 
him.  On  awaking  he  asked  if  he  were  still  King.  He  learned  with  joy 
that  he  had  been  recouped  to  within  fourteen  or  fifteen  hundred  livres. 

This  escape  cured  him  for  the  rest  of 
his  life." 

Play  was  the  plague-spot  of  the 
Court,  where  it  was  the  chief  occupation.* 
"  Here  in  France,"  says  the  Princess 
Palatine,  "  so  soon  as  the  reception  is 
complete,  everybody  plays  at  lansquenet. 
This  is  the  most  fashionable  game. 
They  play  for  frightful  sums,  and  the 
players  are  like  madmen  ;  one  howls, 
another  hits  the  table  so  hard  with  his 
fist  that  the  blow  resounds  through  the 
whole  room,  a  third  blasphemes  in  a 
way  to  make  one's  hair  stand  on  end. 
They  all  seem  out  of  their  senses,  and 
are  frightful  to  behold." 

The    scandal    supplied  Bourdaloue 
with  a  theme  for  one  of  his  sermons. 
"  Play   without   measure   and  without 
rules,  which  is  no  longer  a  diversion  for 
you  but  an  occupation,  a  profession,  a 
traffic,  a  bond,  a  passion  ;  indeed,  if  I 
may  venture  so  to  speak,  it  is  a  madness 
and  a  fury,  and  it  has  for  its  necessary 
consequence,   disorder   in    the   household,    waste   of  resources,    the  base 
cheating  and  roguery  that  are  caused  by  the  love  of  gain,  violent  anger, 
oaths  and  despair." 

Bourdaloue  might  have  summed  up  in  one  word — robbery,  for  stealing 


SMALL  DOOR  OK  THE  CHAPEL  IN  THE  CHÂTEAU 
DE  VERSAILLES. 


*  Among  the  games  <>ï  that  period  several  are  obsolete.  The  conqdete  ]ist  is  as 
follows:  —Barrette,  reversi,  ealbas,  trou-madame  (pigeon-holes),  trente-et-quarante,  tourniquet, 
portique,  la  bête,  le  cadran  de  l'anneau  tournant  (invented  by  Louis  XIV.  in  1689), 
hoca,   brelan,  lansquenet,  chess,  trictrac  and  dice. 


THE  QUEEN'S  GUARD'S  HALL. 

i (Château  île  Versailles.) 


STEALING    MADE  EASY 


8] 


MASK   BY  BURA1N. 
(Iiallet  of  1682. 
Versailles  library.) 


MASK  IiV  BEI1AIN. 
(Ballet  of  1082.— Versailles  Library.) 


was  common  in  the  palace,  at  play  and  elsewhere.     "At  the 
appartement"  says  Dangeau,  "  a  hundred  louis  were  taken  one  day 
from  a  cavalry  officer.  The  King 
caused  a  like  sum  to  be  given 
to  him."    But  the  following  is 
still  more  surprising  :  "  The  last 
time  the  King  went  to  Meudon 
he  left  his  hat  in  his  cabinet  on 
going  to  supper.     In  the  hat 
was  a  buckle  worth  a  hundred 
pistoles,  and   this  was  stolen 
while  he  was  at  table.  The 
thief  did  not  venture  to  take 
the  button,  worth  four  thousand 
pistoles,  on  which  the  brim  was 
looped    up,    judging    that  a 
diamond  of  that  size  would  be 
recognised  anywhere  that  an  at- 
tempt to  sell  it  might  be  made." 
It  is  fair  to  observe  that  stealing  was  made  easy  at  the  Court.  The 
Château  was  free  of  access  to  drapers,  booksellers,  perfumers  and  clock- 
makers,  who  kept  shop  on  the  staircase-landings  at  Fontainebleau,  Marly 
and  Versailles,  and  even  to  the  beggars,  who  were  so  numerous  that  in 

1700,  Louis  XIV.  distributed  fifty  Suisses  about  the 
precincts  of  the  Chateau  "  to  take  up  people  who 
begged  and  convey  them  to  the 
general  hospital." 

All  this  constituted  a  sort  of  hotel 
life,  with  much  meanness  underneath 
it,  and  it  was  not  even  comfortable. 
Those  grand  apartments,  although 
they  were  so  magnificent  and  so  well 
adapted  to  Court  pageantry,  were  very  cold. 
"  It  is  so  cold,"  writes  the  Princess 
<^^'J^^  Palatine  (whose  experience  does  not,  like 

that  of  Madame  de  Sevigné,  refer  to 
summer),  "  that  at  the  King's  table  wine 


MASK   BY  BHUA1X. 


MASK  BY  BÉKAIN 
(Ballet  of  1682.— Versailles  Library.) 


(Ballet  of  1632. 
Versailles  Library.) 


82 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


as  well  as  water  lias  frozen  in  the  glasses.  The  immense  sculptured  fire- 
places, adorned  with  slabs  bearing  the  King's  arms,  are  not  sufficient. 
Certain  rooms,  and  in  particular  the  reception  apartments  and  the  Gallery 
of  Mirrors,  have  not  any  "  [fireplaces]. 

Saint- Simon  has  given  a  masterly  description  of  the  ways  of  the 
courtiers  who  came  to  this  royal  hotel  by  the  King's  orders,  to  people  it, 

and  to  lose  their  fortunes,  their  dignity  and 
their  independence  there. 

"  The  frequent  fêtes  and  the  promenades 
at  Versailles  were  means  invented  by  the  King- 
to  distinguish  or  to  mortify,  by  naming  the 
courtiers  who  were  to  be  present  each  time,  and 
to  keep  up  everybody's  assiduity  and  eagerness 
to  please.  He  had  not  nearly  enough  favours 
to  bestow  to  create  a  continuous  effect,  and 
therefore  he  substituted  imaginary  ones  for 
the  real,  working  on  the  jealousy  of  the 
courtiers  by  showing  little  preferences, 
which  he  might  artfully  manifest 
every  day,  indeed  at  every 
moment,  so  to  speak.  No  one 
was  more  ingenious  than  he  in 
inventing  the  petty  preferences 
and  distinctions  which  gave  rise 
to  hopes,  and  invested  the  re- 
cipients with  general  consideration. 
Marly  was  more  useful  to  him 
in  the  end  [than  Versailles],  and 
especially  Trianon,  whither  every- 
body in  truth  might  go  to  play  the  courtier.  But  ladies  had  the  honour 
of  eating  with  him,  and  were  selected  at  each  meal,  and  the  candle- 
stick used  at  his  coucher  was  held  by  a  person  on  whom  he  desired  to 
bestow  distinction,  chosen  from  among  the  most  important  of  those  present, 
and  named  aloud  when  the  King  had  finished  his  prayers. 

"  He  looked  right  and  left  at  his  lever  and  at  his  coucher,  at  his 
meals,  on  passing  through  the  apartments,  in  his  gardens  at  Versailles, 
where    only   the    courtiers  were   permitted   to  follow  him  :  he  observed 


CHAIR  THAT  BELONGED  TO  THE   MARECHALE   DE  VILLAKS. 

(One  of  six  in  the  Collection  of  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon.) 


éPh  i  lippe  de  GnirciUorii 

(/iiuuJ  C'Haùtrf  df  l  Ordre  de  II'.'  cZ^ame 


THE    KING'S    FAVOUR    AND    ITS  COST 


83 


everybody,  no  one  escaped  his  notice,  not  even  those  who  did  not  hope 
for  it.  He  immediately  detected  the  absence  of  any  persons  who  were 
in  the  habit  of  appearing  at  Court;  lie.  put  together  in  his  own  mind  the 
particular  and  general  causes  of  such  absence,  and  did  not  let  slip  the 
slightest  opportunity  of  acting  accordingly  with  respect  to  the  defaulters. 
It  was  a  demerit  on  the  part  of  some  not  to  make 
the  Court  their  habitual  residence,  of  others  to  come 
thither  but  seldom  ;  but  to  come  never,  or  hardly 
ever,  was  to  incur  certain  displeasure.  When  there  was 
a  question  of  some  favour  for  these  he  would  answer 
haughtily,  "  I  do  not  know  them."  Of  those  who  pre- 
sented themselves  but  seldom  he  would  say,  "  That  is  a 
man  whom  1  never  see."  These  decrees  were  irrevocable. 
It  was  also  a  crime  not  to  go  to  Fontainebleau,  foi-  he 
regarded  that  royal  palace  in  the  same  light  as  Versailles  ; 
and  it  was  also  an  injury  to  him  that  certain  persons 
did  not  ask  [permission]  for  Marly.  Above  all  he  could 
not  endure  the  people  who  liked  Paris. 

"A  word,  a  look  from  the  King,  who  was  not  lavish 
of  either,  was  precious,  and  attracted  attention  and  envy. 

King  everywhere,  at  every  moment  King,  he  kept  all 

breathless  and  in  fear,  and  by  luxury  and 

war  he  almost  reduced  the  nobles,  great  and 

otherwise,  to  living  on  his  bounty  only." 
I, a     Bruyère    has    summed    up  the 

grievances  of  those  dukes  and  peers  who 

regretted  the  degradation  of  the  nobility,  in 

the  following  plain,  dry,  moralist's  formula  : 

"  Show  and  luxury  in  a  sovereign  is  the  shepherd   dressed  in  precious 

stones,  with  a  golden  crook  in  his  hands,  his  dog  wears  a  golden  collar, 

and  is  held  in  a  leash  of  gold  and  silk.    What  avails  so  much  gold  to 

his  Hock,  or  against  the  wolves  ?  " 

The  entire  chapter  "  De  la  Cour"  in  his  famous  "  Caractères"  is  a  picture 

of  the  Versailles  society  of  the  period.     La  Bruyère  paints  the  courtiers  to 

the  life,  their  passions,  their  calculations,  and  their  petty  ambitions. 

"The  Court  is  like  an  edifice  built  of  marble:  I  mean  to  say  that  it 

is  composed  of  men  who  are  very  hard,  but  highly  polished. 


kept  all  \ 


A  SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY  CANDLESTICK, 
((iuérin  Collection.) 


84 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


"  It  is  a  country  in  which  joy  is  visible  but  false,  and  grief  is 
hidden  but  real.  Who  could  believe  that  the  eagerness  for  spectacles  of 
all  kinds,  the  applause  of  Molière  and  Harlequin  at  the  theatres,  feasting, 
hunting,  ballets  and  tournaments  cover  up  so  much  disquiet  and  care,  so 
many  conflicting  interests,  so  many  fears  and  hopes,  passions  so  strong, 
and  affairs  so  serious  ?  " 

Then  come  the  "  Lettres  Persanes,"  that  first  sample  of  an  inimitable 
satirist,  the  best  criticism  of  all  upon  the  seamy  side  of  things  at  Versailles, 
and  the  vices  hidden  beneath  its  splendour — the  "  Asiatic  outside,"  as 
Saint-Simon  said. 

"There  is  talk  of  a  region  in  which  old  men  are  still  gallant,  urbane 
and  polite  ;  the  young,  on  the  contrary,  are  hard,  rough,  without  manners 
or  politeness  ;  having  rid  themselves  of  the  passion  for  women  at  the 
age  when  it  usually  begins  to  be  experienced,  they  prefer  the  ridiculous 
in  their  repasts,  their  viands,  and  their  loves.  According  to  them,  he  who 
gets  drunk  on  wine  only  is  sober  and  moderate  ;  their  too  frequent  use 
of  it  has  rendered  it  insipid  to  them.  They  seek  to  revive  their  extinct 
taste  by  brandy  and  the  strongest  liqueurs  ;  their  debauch  stops  short  at 
aqua  fortis  only.  The  women  of  that  country  hasten  the  decline  of  their 
beauty  by  tricks  which  beautify  them  as  they  believe  ;  their  custom  is  to 
paint  their  lips,  their  cheeks,  their  eyebrows  and  their  shoulders,  which 
they  display,  together  with  their  busts,  their  arms  and  their  ears.  They 
who  inhabit  that  country  have  a  countenance  which  is  not  clear,  but 
blurred,  encumbered  by  a  mass  of  false  hair — and  this  they  prefer  to  their 
own — making  a  long  web  that  covers  the  head,  comes  half  way  down 
the  body,  changes  the  features  and  prevents  men  from  being  known  by 
their  faces.  Those  people  have  besides  their  god  and  their  king.  The 
great  persons  of  the  nation  assemble  every  day  at  a  certain  hour  in  a 
temple  which  they  call  'church.'  At  the  far  end  of  this  temple  there  is 
an  altar  consecrated  to  their  god,  where  a  priest  celebrates  mysteries  which 
they  call  holy,  sacred  and  awful.  The  great  personages  form  a  wide  circle 
at  the  foot  of  this  altar  and  remain  standing,  their  backs  turned  to  the 
priest  and  the  sacred  mysteries,  and  their  faces  raised  towards  the  king, 
who  is  to  be  seen  kneeling  in  a  gallery,  and  on  whom  all  their  hearts  and 
minds  seem  to  be  fixed.  A  due  subordination  is  thus  manifested,  for 
these  people  seem  to  adore  the  prince,  and  the  prince  to  adore  God.  The 
people  of  the  country  name  it   ;    it  is  about  forty-eight  degrees  of 


COURTIERS 


87 


elevation  from  the  Pole,  and  more  than  eleven 
hundred  leagues  of  sea  from  the  Iroquois  and  the 
Hurons." 

We  arrive  later  at  the  conclusion  of  Taine  : 
"  Pompous  parade  has  replaced  efficacious  action,  the 
seigneurs  are  merely  pretty  ornaments  ;  they  are  no 
longer  useful  ornaments  ;  they  '  represent  '  round 
about  the  King,  who  also  'represents,'  and  contribute 
their  persons  to  the  scenery  and  stage  effect." 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  scenery  and  stage 
effect  were  successful,  and  that  since  the  fêtes  of 
the  Italian  Renaissance,  nothing  more  magnificent 
had  beeD  seen. 


GOLDEN  VASE. 

(From  a  cartoon  by  Lebrun, 
l'alais  Knyal.  Scries  of 
The  Seasons. — Musée  Ue 
Versailles.) 


All  this  gave  an  air  of  grandeur  to  the  Court 
of  Louis  XIV.  which  eclipsed  the  other  Courts  of 
Europe.  He  desired  the  prestige  which  attached 
to  his  person  to  be  reflected  on  all  that  surrounded 
him  ;  that  all  the  great  should  be  honoured,  but  that  none  should  be 
powerful,  beginning  with  his  brother  and  Monsieur  le  Prince.  With  this 
purpose  in  view  he  settled  the  old  quarrel  of  the  Peers  with  the  Presidents 
of  Parliament  in  favour  of  the  former. 

To  distinguish  his  principal  courtiers  lie  had 
invented  blue  jackets  embroidered  in 
gold  and  silver.  Permission  to  wear 
these  was  esteemed  a  great  favour  by  ^^BHIBj 
men  whose  lives  were  ruled  by  vanit  v. 
and  it  was  craved  for  as  though  the 
conferring  of  an  Order  had  been  in 
question.  It  may  be  observed,  since 
small  details  are  in  question,  that 
jackets  were  then  worn  over  a  doublet 
adorned  with  ribbons,  and  that  a 
baldrick,  from  which  the  sword  hung, 
was  passed  around  the  neck  over  the 

i  TIT- .Li        j_l   •  i  A  MANTEL  SLAB  IN  THE  SALON  D'HERCtTLE. 

lacket.     With   this  costume  went  a  .....     ,  _    .„  . 

J  (Chateau  ile  Versailles.) 


88 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


FRAGMENT  OF  THE  WOODWORK  AND  THE  CARVED  FRAME  OF  THE  PANELS  OF  THE  KING'S  ROOM 
IN  THE  CHÂTEAU  DE  VERSAILLES. 


falling  lace  cravat  and  a  hat  with  two  rows  of  feathers.  The  fashion, 
which  lasted  until  the  year  1684,  was  adopted  all  over  Europe,  with  the 
exception  of  Spain  and  Poland.  The  great  world  almost  everywhere  piqued 
itself  on  imitating  Louis  XIV. 

He  established  a  Household  Order,  which  still  exists,  regulated  ranks 
and  functions,  created  new  offices  about  his  person — for  instance,  that  of 
Grand  Master  of  the  Wardrobe.  He  re-established  the  tables  instituted  by 
François  L,  and  augmented  them.    There  were  twelve  for  the  officers' 

mess,  served  with  as  much 
elegance  and  profusion  as  those 
of  many  sovereigns  ;  he  desired 
that  strangers  should  all  be 
invited — an  attention  that  was 
continued  during  the  whole  of 
his  reign.  There  was  another 
still  more  polite  and  rare. 
When  the  King  had  the 
pavilions  of  Marly  built  in 
1679,  the  ladies  found  that  a 
complete  toilet  equipage  was 
provided  for  each  in  her  apart- 
ment ;  nothing  requisite  for 
convenience  or  luxury  was 
omitted  ;  every  member  of  the 
"  voyage"  as  these  ffittings  from 
palace  to  palace  were  called, 
might  entertain  in  her  own 
„,„„  nam„  ,  rooms,  and  the    repasts  were 

THE  COSTUME  OF  A  LIEUTENANT  OF  THE  KING  S  GUARD.  '  r 

(Fashion  priut  by  Uouuart.)  aS     elegantly     served     as  the 


THE    KING'S    LIBERALITY  89 

master  s.  These  small  things  are  precious  only  when  they  are  Lacked  up 
by  great  things.  In  everything  that  he  did  generosity  and  splendour  were 
displayed.  On  the  marriage  of  the  daughters  of  his  Ministers,  the  King 
made  each  a  present  of  two  hundred  thousand  francs. 

Spanheim  enables  us  to  complete  this  picture  of  the  Court  of  France 


THE  TOILET  OP  A  LADY  OF  QUALITY. 
(From  an  engraving  by  Saint-Jean.) 


under  Louis  XIV.,  and  the  expenditure  which  it  implied,  by  some  inter- 
esting details.  He  particularly  admires  the  manner  of  the  ordering  of  the 
Court  and  the  expenses. 

"Under  the  present  reign,"  he  writes,  "there  is  a  great  deal  of 
order  and  economy  in   the  management  of  the  household  expenditure 


90 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


A  LADY  OF  QUALITY  AT  HER  TOILET  :    MARY  ANNE  STUART, 
QUEEN  OF  ENGLAND. 
(After  a  print  by  Bormart.) 


in  the  midst  of  the  glitter  and 
parade.  An  effort  has  been 
made  to  remedy  at  their  source 
the  confusion  that  existed  in 
the  administration  of  the 
finances  under  the  past  reign, 
and  under  the  minority  and 
early  years  of  the  present,  and 
which  caused  the  funds  destined 
for,  or  that  ought  to  have  been 
applied  to  the  ordinary  main- 
tenance of  the  King's  Court, 
his  tables,  his  officers,  and  other 
regular  requirements,  to  be 
turned  aside  to  other  uses  by 
the  extravagance  or  ill-con- 
duct of  Superintendents  and 
Treasurers  of  the  State  Funds, 
who  took  advantage  of  their 


office  to  keep  up  their  own 
luxury  and  expense.  This  con- 
fusion having  been  reformed 
since  the  imprisonment  of  the 
late  M.  Fouquet,  and  by  the 
order  into  which  M.  Colbert 
brought  the  finances,  enabled  the 
same  order  to  be  re-established 
in  the  provision  required  for  the 
King's  household,  and  for  all 
that  was  necessary  to  the  main- 
tenance of  economy  and  the 
display  of  magnificence  at  the 
same  time. 

"  Care  was  taken  that  both 
should  have  their  share  in  the 
providing  of  the  King's  tables, 


Ruiaris 

iaJn'z.e  au, 
brode  aicec 


A  COURTIER  IN  SUMMER  HABIT. 
(From  a  Print  of  the  time.) 


THE    PALACE    TABLES  91 

His  Majesty's  in  the  first  place,  afterwards  that  of  the  Grand  Master, 
presided  over  by  the  Captain  of  the  Guard,  and  those  of  the  Grand 
Chamberlain,  the  first  Maître  d'Hôtel  to  the  Queen,  and  the  first  Maître 
d'Hôtel  to  the  Dauphine,  without  mentioning  other  inferior  tables.  These 
are  all  maintained  at  the  King's  expense,  and  do  honour  to  the  Court, 
while  they  are  very  agreeable  to  certain  courtiers  who  are  held  in 
consideration,  and  who  generally  find  their  place  at  them. 

"  We  may  number  among  the  principal  tables  of   the  Court  that  of 


RECEPTION  BY  THE  KING  AT  VERSAILLES  OF  THE  KNIGHTS  OP  THE  ORDER  OF  SAINT-LOUIS. 
(Musée  de  Versailles.    This  sketch  of  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  exactly  represents  the  King's  Chamber.) 


the  Dauphin's  governor,  the  Duc  de  Montausier,  those  of  the  governess 
of  the  children  of  France,  the  Maréchale  de  la  Motte,  the  lady-in-waiting 
on  the  Queen,  and  the  present  lady-in-waiting  on  the  Dauphine  ; 
she  is  the  Duchesse  d'Arpajon.  These  personages  maintain  their  tables 
with  money  which  the  King  gives  them  for  this  purpose  and  also  to 
«lo  honour  to  the  Court,  according  to  the  more  or  less  method  which 
each  of  them  brings  to  the  task.  All  these  circumstances  contribute 
not  a  little  to  the  grandeur  of  a  royal  Court  and  the  convenience  of 
the  courtiers. 

"  The  grands  seigneurs  and  courtiers  who  frequent  the  Chateau  are 


92 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


for  the  most  part,  and  with  the  exception  of  a 
very  small  number,  such  as  the  Prince  de  Condé, 
dependent  almost  entirely  on  the  King's  bounties 
and  the  salaries  of  their  various  posts." 

While  he  admires  the  order,  the  fine  ruling  of 
the  Court,  "  which  serve  as  instruction  and  example 
to  the  rest  of  the  kingdom  and  to  foreign  Courts," 
Spanheim  adds  certain  criticisms  which  Voltaire 
tried  to  refute.  He  reproaches  Louis  XIV.  with 
his  avarice. 

"  Although  he  was  lavish  in  his  own  case,"  says 
Saint-Simon,  "  and  even  gave  great  gifts,  he  was  by  no 
means  liberal,  and  he  said  himself  that  he  took  that  from 
his  House  and  from  all  the  Bourbons.    He  entered  into 

the  smallest  items  of  his 


A  GOLD  EWER. 
(From   the  cartoon  by  Lebrun. 
Cbâteau  de  Madrid.  Series 
of  Les  .Saisons.  —  Musée  de 
Versailles.) 


CRESSET  IN  BRONZE,   BY  LEHONGRE,   IN  THE    "  BOSQUET." 
(Hardens  of  Versailles.) 


personal  expenses,  and  as 
he  liked  every  kind 
\         of    detail,    and  the 

most  minute,  he  thought  this  was 
doins;  sreat  things." 

To  Spanheim  belongs  the  credit  of 
having  discovered  the  secret  motives  of 
1      the  gifts  of  Louis  XIV.     He  gives  us 
i  a    very    curious    study    of  royal 

\  psychology  :   "As  he  is  more  in- 

clined to  make  himself  regarded  by 
his  people  as  a  master  than  as  a 
father,  he   is   better  pleased  with 
their   submission    than  with  their 
liking,  and  he  is  not  touched  by 
\       any  real  desire  to  relieve  them.  So 
■  J       it  may  be  said  that  though  he  loves 
.  to  give  he  loves  better  to  amass  ; 
that  his  beneficence  or  his  liberality 
is  generally  interested  ;  that  he  gives 
as  much,  or  even  more,  from  osten- 
tation as  from  choice.    Thus  it  is 


••  v 


SPANHEIM    ON    THE    KING'S  LIBERALITY 


93 


that  he  is  equally  fond  of  show  and  saving  ;  that  there  often  is  profusion 
where  there  might  he  economy,  and  too  much  of  the  latter  where  liberal 
spending  would  be  more  to  the  purpose.  We  have  only  to  reflect  to  see 
this  :  on  the  one  hand  the  eighty  millions  that  the  château,  the  gardens, 
and  the  waterworks  of  Versailles  cost  him,  on  the  works  in  progress  on 
the  Maintenon  aqueduct,  at  which  more  than  thirty  thousand  men  have 


LOUIS  XIV.  RECEIVING,   WITH  THE  PRINCESS  PALATINE  AND  MADAME  DE  MAINTENON,  THE  ELECTORAL  PRINCE 

OF  SAXONY  AT  FONTAINEBLEAU. 
(From  a  painting  by  Louis  Silvestre  at  Versailles.    A  replica  is  in  the  palace  at  Dresden.) 

been  employed  for  three  years;  on  the  other  hand  the  poverty  of  the 
lower  classes  and  of  the  country  people,  exhausted  by  taxes,  the  billeting 
of  soldiery  upon  them,  and  the  excise  and  salt  duties." 

+ 

One  unexampled  act  of  generosity  won  for  Louis  XIV.  his  greatest 
renown  in  Europe.  The  idea  suggested  itself  to  him  in  talking  with  the 
Duc  de   Saint-Aignan,  who  told  him  that  Cardinal  Richelieu  had  sent 


94  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


presents  to  some  learned  foreigner  who 
had  praised  him.  The  King  did  not  wait 
until  he  had  been  praised  ;  but,  being- 
sure  of  meriting  eulogium,  he  directed  his 
Ministers,  Lyonne  and  Colbert,  to  select  a 
number  of  Frenchmen  and  foreigners,  dis- 
tinguished in  literature,  to  be  recipients 
of  tokens  of  his  generosity.  Lyonne  having 
written  to  foreign  countries  and  learned  as 
much  as  he  could  in  this  very  delicate 
matter — for  it  involved  the  giving  of 
preference  to  contemporaries — a  list  was 
at   first   made    of  sixty  persons  ;  some 


LOUIS  XIV.  CONVERSES  WITH   THE  MUSES. 
(Allegorical  print  by  S.  Leclerc.) 


NEW  DEVICE  IN  HONOUR  OF  THE  SUN-KING. 

of  these  had  pensions,  others 
presents,  according  to  their 
rank,  their  needs,  and  their 
merit.  (1663.)  Allacci,  the 
librarian  of  the  Vatican  ;  Count 
Graziani,  Secretary  of  State 
to  the  Duke  of  Modena  ;  the 
famous  Viviani,  mathematician 
to  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany; 
Vossius,  the  historiographer  of 
the  United  Provinces  ;  Huygens, 
the  celebrated  mathematician  ; 
a  Dutch  resident  in  Sweden  ; 
lastly,  even  to  professors  of 
Altdorf  and  Helmstadt,  towns 
almost  unknown  to  the  French, 
were  astonished  to  receive 
letters  from  M.  Colbert,  by 
which  he  informed  them  that, 
although  the  Kins;  of  France 
was  not  their  sovereign,  he 
begged  them  to  allow  him 
to  lie  their  benefactor.  The 
terms  of  these  letters  were 
measured  by   the    dignity  of 


RIGHT    ROYAL  MUNIFICENCE 


95 


the  persons,  and  all  were  accompanied  either  by  considerable  gratuities 
or  pensions. 

Among  Frenchmen,  Racine,  Quinault  and  Fléchier — afterwards 
Bishop  of  Nîmes,  then  quite  young — were  distinguished;  they  received 
gifts.  It  is  true  that  Chapelain  and  Cotin  had  pensions,  but  it  was  chiefly 
Chapelain  whom  Colbert  had  consulted.  These  two  men  were  not  un- 
deserving, much  as  their  poetry  was  cried  down.  Chapelain  was  deeply 
read  in  literature,  and,  however 
surprising  the  statement  may 
appear,  he  had  good  taste,  and 
was  a  highly  accomplished  critic. 
There  is  a  great  distance  between 
all  this  and  genius.  Learning 
and  intellect  lead  an  artist  but 
do  not  in  any  sense  make  him. 
None  in  France  had  more 
reputation  in  their  respective 
day  than  Ronsard  and  Chape- 
lain  ;  but  we  were  barbarians 
in  the  time  of  Ronsard  and  had 
hardly  emerged  from  barbarism 
in  that  of  Chapelain.  Costar, 
the  fellow-student  of  Balzac  and 
Voiture,  called  Chapelain  the 
first  of  the  heroic  poets. 

lioileau  had  no  share  in 
these  donations.  He  had 
hitherto  produced  satires  only, 
and  we  know  that  in  his  satires 
he  attacked  the  very  same  learned  persons  whom  the  Ministers  had  con- 
sulted. Some  years  afterwards  the  King  marked  him  out  for  distinction 
without  consulting  anybody. 

The  presents  made  to  foreigners  were  so  considerable  that  Viviani 
had  a  house  built  at  Florence  with  the  money  given  to  him  by  Louis  XIV. 
On  the  front  was  inscribed  in  letters  of  gold,  "  .Kdes  a  Deo  datse,"  all 
allusion  to  the  surname  of  "Dieu  donne"  which  the  voice  of  the  people 
had  bestowed  upon  Louis  at  his  birth. 


THK  MOST  CHRISTIAN  HERCULES. 
(Allegorical  print  in  praise  of  Lcuiis  XIV.) 


96 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  effect  which  this  extraordinary  munifi- 
cence produced  in  Europe  ;  and  if  we  consider  all  the  subsequent 
memorable  acts  of  the  King,  the  most  severe  and  hard  to  please 
of  critics  might  tolerate  the  immoderate  eulogy  that  was  lavished  upon 
him.  France  was  not  the  only  country  in  which  his  praises  were 
sung.  In  twelve  different  cities  of  Italy  the  panegyric  of  Louis  XIV.  was 
pronounced.  This  was  true  homage,  not  rendered  under  pressure 
of  fear  or  impulse  of  hope.  The  Marchese  Zampieri  conveyed  it  to 
the  King. 

He  never  ceased  to  bestow  his  patronage  upon  Art  and  Letters. 
We  have  evidence  of  this  in  his  gratuities  to  Racine,  amounting  to  nearly 
four  thousand  louis,  in  the  prosperity  of  Despréaux  and  Quinault,  and 
especially  that  of  Lulli  and  all  the  artists  who  devoted  themselves  to 
his  service.  He  gave  a  thousand  louis  to  Benserade  to  enable  him  to 
have  the  line-engravings  of  his  "  Metamorphoses  d'Ovide  en  rondeaux  " 
executed.  This  was  liberality  misapplied,  and  proves  only  the  King's 
generosity  :  in  reality  it  was  his  way  of  rewarding  Benserade  for  his  very 
moderate  ballets. 

Several  writers  have  attributed  the  patronage  of  the  Arts  by  Louis 
XI VT.  and  his  munificence,  to  Colbert  alone  ;  but  the  Minister's  only 
merit  in  the  matter  was  his  support  of  the  taste  and  generosity  of  his 
master.  Colbert,  who  had  a  real  genius  for  finance,  commerce,  navigation 
and  general  policy,  had  not  the  taste  and  elevation  of  mind  of  the  King, 
to  whose  views  he  lent  himself  zealously  indeed,  but  he  did  not  inspire 
him  with  that  which  is  a  gift  of  nature. 

All  this  considered,  we  do  not  see  on  what  foundation  certain  writers 
have  based  the  accusation  of  avarice  against  Louis  XIV.  A  prince  who  has 
property  absolutely  independent  of  State  revenues  may  be  avaricious 
like  a  private  individual,  but  a  king  of  France,  who  is  in  reality  only 
the  dispenser  of  money  that  belongs  to  his  subjects,  cannot  be  tainted 
by  the  vice  of  avarice.  Perception,  and  readiness  to  reward  may  be 
wanting  in  him,  but  these  are  faults  with  which  Louis  XIV.  cannot  be 
reproached. 

At  the  very  time  when  he  encouraged  all  the  talents  by  so  many 
bountiful  deeds,  he  severely  punished  the  use  made  by  the  Comte  de 
Bussy  of  his  abilities.  Bussy  was  sent  to  the  Bastille  in  1665.  The  pretext 
was  "Les  Amours  des  Gaules";  the  real  cause  was  the  song  in  which  the 


FOR    A  SONG 


97 


King  was  too  plainly  indicated,  and  which  was  revived  in  order  to 
ruin  Bussy,  to  whom  it  was  imputed — 

Que  Déodatus  est  heureux 
De  baiser  ce  bec  amoureux, 
Qui  d'une  oreille  à  l'autre  va  ! 
Alleluia  ! 


LOUIS  XIV.   TEACHES  THE  DAUPHIN  TO  PATRONISE  ARTS  AND  LETTERS.     ALLEGORICAL  CONCERT 
OF  THE  MUSES  TO  THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 

(From  an  Almanac  of  the  period,  1667.) 


The  works  of  Bussy  were  not  good  enough  to  compensate  for  the  harm 
which  they  did  him.  He  spoke  his  language  purely  ;  he  had  a  certain  amount 
of  talent,  hut  a  greater  amount  of  conceit,  and  he  only  made  enemies  by 
his  cleverness.    The  King  would  have  acted  generously  if  he  had  pardoned 

o 


98 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


him  ;  but  he  avenged  a  personal  wrong  while  seeming  to  yield  to  the 
public  outcry.  The  Comte  de  Bussy  was  however  released  at  the  end 
of  eighteen  months  ;  but  he  was  deprived  of  his  official  employment 
and  remained  in  disgrace  all  the  rest  of  his  life,  making  vain  protests 
of  attachment  to  Louis  XIV.,  in  which  neither  the  King  nor  any  other 
person  believed. 


MEDAL  STRUCK  ON  THE  OCCASION  OP 
THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCE, 

1667. 


THE  ARMS  OF  THE  K 1 NG 

(Heading  by  Cbauveau  from  t he  Recueil  des  courses 
From  the  illuminated  «"l'y 


BOKXE  BY  THE  LOVES. 

de  têtes  et  de  bague?  f  from  the  Imprimerie  Royale, 
in  the  Versailles  Library.) 


III. 

THE    REIGN    AT    ITS    APOGEE  : 
THE   MANNERS   AND   HABITS   OF   THE  KING  AND  THE  COURT. 


L« 


i 


OU  IS  XIV.  would  gladly  have  added  the  charm 
)f  friendship  to  the  glory,  grandeur,  pleasure 
and  gallantry  which  occupied  the  early  years  of  his 
reign  ;  but  it  is  difficult  for  a  King  to  make  a 
fortunate  choice  of  friends.  Of  two  men  in  whom 
he  placed  entire  confidence,  one  basely  betrayed  him, 
the  other  abused  his  favour.  The  first  was  the 
Marquis  de  Vardes,  the  confidant  of  the  King's 
relations  with  Madame  de  La  Vallière,  whose  position 
indeed  naturally  created  jealousy,  but  whose  dis- 
position ought  to  have  preserved  her  from  enmity. 
The  Marquis  de  Vardes  was  induced  by  Court 
intrigues  to  endeavour  to  work  her  ruin.  In  concert 
with  the  Comte  de  Guiche  and  the  Comtesse  de 
Soissons,  he  ventured  to  forge  a  letter  to  the  Queen, 
purporting  to  come  from  the  King  of  Spain,  her 
father,  by  which  the  Queen  was  informed  of  facts 
that  she  ought  not  to  have  known,  and  which  could 
not  fail  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  royal  family.  In  addition  to  this 
perfidious  deed  he  basely  threw  suspicion  upon  the  most  upright  persons  of 


GROUP  OF  CHILDREN  IN 
THE  ALLÉE  D'EAU. 
(Gardens  (if  Versailles.) 


100 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


the  Court,  the  Duc  de  Na vailles  and  his  wife  (1665).  These  two  innocent 
individuals  were  sacrificed  to  the  resentment  of  the  deluded  monarch. 
The  atrocity  of  the  conduct  of  Vardes  was  too  notorious,  but,  criminal 
as  he  was,  Vardes  hardly  underwent  a  more  severe  punishment  than  his 
falsely  accused  victims,  who  were  compelled  to  resign  their  places  and 
retire  from  Court. 

The  other  favourite  was  the  Comte  (afterwards  Duc)  de  Lauzun, 
sometimes  the  King's  rival  in  his  transient  loves,  sometimes  his  confidant, 
and  afterwards  notorious  for  his  marriage  with  Mademoiselle,  which  he 
wanted  to  contract  too  publicly,  and  did  afterwards  effect  secretly,  in  spite 
of  his  pledged  word  to  his  master. 

The  King,  thus  deceived,  declared  that  he  had  sought  for  friends  and 


THE  COLONNADE  OF  THE  LOUVRE,  ELEVATION  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  EKONT. 
(Frout  and  plan,  from  the  designs  of  Claude  Perrault,  1G65.) 


had  found  schemers  only.  This  unfortunate  knowledge  of  men,  which  we 
acquire  too  late,  led  him  to  utter  the  historic  saying,  "  Each  time  that  I 
give  away  a  vacant  place  I  make  a  hundred  malcontents  and  one  ingrate." 

During  the  war  of  1667  the  jîleasures  of  the  Court,  the  embellishment 
of  the  royal  dwellings  in  Paris,  and  the  business  of  the  internal  policy  of 
the  kingdom  were  not  interrupted. 

The  King  danced  in  the  ballets  until  1670.  He  was  then  thirty-two 
years  old.  The  tragedy  of  Britannicus  was  acted  before  him  at  Saint- 
Germain,  and  he  was  struck  by  these  lines — 

Pour  toute  ambition,  pour  vertu  singulière, 

Il  excelle  à  conduire  un  char  dans  le  carrière  ; 

A  disputer  des  prix  indignes  de  ses  mains  ; 

A  se  donner  lui-même  en  spectacle  aux  Romains. 

Thenceforth  he  danced  no  more  in  public  :  the  poet  had  reformed 


LOUISE    DE    LA  VALLIERE 


101 


the  Prince.  His  attachment  to  Madame  de  La  Vallière  still  continued 
notwithstanding  his  infidelities.  He  always  returned  to  her  whose  sweet- 
ness, gentleness,  and  kindly  nature  had  retained  their  charm  for  him  ; 
hut  from  1GG9  she  perceived  that  Madame  de  Montespan  was  surely  gaining 
ascendency.  This  she  contested  indeed,  but  with  her  habitual  gentle- 
ness. She  bore  the  pain  of  witnessing  her  rival's  triumph  for  a  long 
time,  and  she  hardly  complained,  regarding  herself  as  still  happy,  in  her 
grief,  to  be  "  considered  "  by  the  King,  and  to  see  him  although  he  no 
longer  loved  her. 


A  NOCTURNAL  FÊTE  ON  THE  GRAND  CANAL  AT  VERSAILLES  IN  1674. 
(From  a  print  by  Israel  Kilvestre.) 

At  length,  in  1  (575,  she  sought  the  refuge  of  tender  souls  and  deep- 
feeling  hearts.  God  alone  could  console  the  stricken  and  penitent  woman. 
Her  conversion  was  as  celebrated  as  her  attachment  ;  she  became  a 
Carmelite  nun  in  a  Paris  convent  of  that  Order,  and  she  persevered.  The 
severity  of  the  rule  of  Saint  Teresa  did  not  deter  the  delicate  woman 
accustomed  to  so  much  grandeur,  ease,  pleasure  and  adulation.  She  lived 
in  the  practice  of  that  austere  rule  from  1G75  into  the  year  1710,  under 
the  name  of  Sœur  Louise  de  la  Miséricorde. 


102 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Voltaire's  pity  for  Mademoiselle  de  La  Vallière  has  been  shared  by  all 
contemporaries.  Such  was  the  effect  upon  all  who  approached  her  of  her 
brave  and  dignified  retirement,  and  probably  also  of  her  charming  nature. 
She  reminded  the  Court  of  the  fair  and  gracious  Princess  Henrietta  of 
England,  whose  untimely  death  was  one  of  the  calamities  of  the  reign. 

Spanheim  writes  of  Louise  de  La  Vallière  as  follows  :  "  She  inspired 
the  King  with  the  strongest  affection  of  which  he  was  capable,  although 

her  birth  and  her  beauty  were 
alike  middling,  and  she  was  not 
clever.  She  won  and  kept  that 
affection  by  her  gentle  and 
thoughtful  air,  by  a  remarkable 
refinement  of  feeling  and  dispo- 
sition, by  the  strife  of  modesty, 
which  was  natural  to  her,  with 
the  real  and  strong  attraction 
that  she  felt  towards  the 
King.  That  tender  and  reci- 
procal, though  not  legitimate 
attachment,  accompanied  by  all 
the  precautions  which  it  de- 
manded and  inspired,  gave  rise 
to  the  King's  retirement  to 
Versailles,  and  afterwards  to 
the  diversions  and  fêtes  galantes 
which  were  invented  in  compli- 
ment to  the  passion  of  a  king- 
in  love.  It  lasted  for  nearly 
two  years  in  all  its  ardour,  until  it  gave  place  to  the  King's  new  fancy 
for  Madame  de  Montespan.  Mademoiselle  de  La  Vallière — who  sincerely 
loved  the  King  for  himself  alone,  and  apart  from  that  weakness,  and  the 
unfortunate  position  into  which  it  had  thrown  her,  had  natural  honour  and 
modesty — struck  to  the  heart  by  her  lover's  inconstancy,  was  converted  by 
the  trial,  and,  notwithstanding  all  the  obstacles  which  the  King  himself 
interposed,  and  her  affection  for  her  two  children,  she  abandoned  the  Court 
and  the  world  with  resignation  and  firmness  of  mind  of  which  there  are 
few  examples." 


MADEMOISELLE  DE  LA  VALLIÈRE. 
(By  Jean  Nocret. — Musée  de  Versailles.) 


LOUISE    DE    LA  VALLIERE 


103 


The  beauty  of  Mademoiselle  de  La  Vallière  has  been  disputed  ;  foi- 
instance  by  that  worthy  magistrate  d'Ormesson,  who  was  almost  indignant 
at  the  bad  taste  of  the  King.  "  This  young  lady  did  not  appear  hand- 
some to  me,"  he  writes.  "  She  has  fine  eyes  and  a  good  colour,  but  she 
is  skinny,  her  cheeks  are  hollow,  her  mouth  and  teeth  are  ugly,  the  end 
of  her  nose  is  thick,  and  her  face  is  long."  Another  adverse  but  anony- 
mous critic,  records  his  judgment  thus:  "What  is  this  person  like  who  has 
taken  so  firm  a  hold  of  the 
heart  of  so  proud  and  splendid 
a  king  ?  She  is  of  middle 
height,  very  slender  ;  she  does 
not  walk  well  because  she  is 
lame  ;  her  complexion  is  a  pale 
blonde,  marked  with  small- 
pox ;  brown  eyes  ;  her  mouth  is 
large,  rather  red,  the  teeth  not 
good,  no  bust,  flat  arms,  which 
do  not  say  much  for  the  rest  of 
her  figure." 

On  the  other  hand  there 
is  nothing  but  praise  for 
her  kind  heart,  her  sweetness, 
her  gracious  ways.  The 
author  changes  his  tone 
here:  "She  has  a  great 
heart,  firm,  generous,  disin- 
terested, tender,  loyal.  She 
is   sincere   and    faithful,  free 

from  all  coquetry.    She  loves  her  friends  with  incomparable  warmth." 

The  Princess  Palatine,  who  was  not  tender  towards  vice,  was 
disarmed  by  her. 

"  Her  glance  had  a  charm  that  one  cannot  describe.  She  had  a  good 
figure  but  bad  teeth.  I  thought  her  eyes  even  finer  than  those  of  Madame 
de  Montespan.  She  had  a  slight  limp,  but  it  was  not  unbecoming  to 
her."  This  sweet  woman  is  the  subject  of  one  of  the  prettiest  portraits 
the  Abbé  de  Choisy  has  given  us. 

"  She  was  not  one  of  those  perfect  beauties  whom  one  may  often 


MADEMOISELLE  DE  LA  VALLIERE  AS  DIANA. 

(From  an  anonymous  painting  in  the  Musée  de  Versailles.) 


104 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


admire  without  liking  them.  She  was  very  amiable,  and  the  line  by  La 
Fontaine,  '  Et  la  grâce  plus  belle  encore  que  la  beauté,'  might  have 
been  written  for  her.  She  had  a  beautiful  complexion,  fair  hair,  a  sweet 
smile,  a  look  so  tender  and  yet  so  modest  that  it  won  love  and  esteem 

from  the  first  moment.    She  had  no  ambition,  no  views, 
was  even  more  bent  on  thinking  of  the  object  of  her 
love  than  on  pleasing  him,  preferred  honour  to  all 
things,  and  exposed  herself  more  than  once  to  death 
rather  than  let  her  frailty  be  suspected. 
Sweet-tempered,  generous,  shy,  she  never 
forgot  that  she  was  doing  ill,  and  hoped 
always  to  return  to  the  right  way." 

She  has  however  depicted  herself 
more  faithfully  than  her  admirers  could 
have  portrayed  her,  at  the  moment  when 
she  broke  with  Louis  XIV.  and  with 
the  world. 

"  You  fear  for  me,  and  you  are 
right,  for  I  am  still  here.  What  would 
you  have  ?  I  am  weakness  itself,  and 
yet  I  am  striving  to  get  out  of  peril, 
perhaps  too  feebly.  I  say  it  to  my 
shame,  but  I  assure  you  it  is  sincere, 
and  with  the  intention  that  it  shall  be 
soon. 


A  RELIQUARY  SAID  TO  HAYE  BEEN  PUT  TOGETHER 
BY  MADAME  DE  LA  VALLIERE. 
(From  the  collection  of  Baron  Jérôme  Pichon.) 


"  I  am  in  despair  at  having  made 
so  little  advance,  and  you  could  not  cry  more  shame  on  me  than  I 
on  myself.  I  am  however  more  determined  than  ever,  and  if  I  were 
offered  all  the  great  things  in  the  world  I  would  not  exchange  the  mere 
desire  to  be  a  Carmelite  for  the  possession  of  them.  I  hold  by  only  a 
thread  now.  Help  me,  I  pray  you,  to  break  it  ;  scold,  threaten,  treat  me 
harshly.  I  have  only  one  step  to  make,  but  I  have  feeling  ;  and  they  were 
right  who  told  you  that  Mademoiselle  de  Blois  [her  daughter]  has  inspired 
me  with  much.  I  must  speak  to  the  King  ;  that  is  all  my  pain.  Ask  God  to 
give  me  the  strength  that  I  shall  need  on  that  occasion.  It  is  not  leaving 
the  Court  for  the  cloister  that  costs  me  dear,  but  speaking  to  the  King, 
that  is  my  punishment.    I  show  myself  to  you  such  as  I  am  ;  do  not  love 


THE    SUCCESSFUL  RIVAL 


105 


me  less  for  that,  I  entreat  you,  and  let  your  pity  do  on  my  behalf  what 
my  esteem  does  on  yours.    (Versailles,  8th  February,  1674)." 


MADAME  DE  MONTESPAN. 

(By  Netscuer  an  J  V.  Meurs.) 


The  following  anecdote,  related  by  Voltaire,  is  testimony  more  indirect 
borne  by  Mademoiselle  de  La  Vallière  to  herself.  It  is  eloquent  and 
sincere. 


106 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


When  the  death  of  the  Duc  de  Vermandois,  her  son  by  Louis  XIV., 
was  announced  to  Sœur  Louise  de  la  Miséricorde  she  said,  "  I  ought  to 
weep  for  his  birth  still  more  than  for  his  death."  A  daughter  remained 
to  her,  who  bore  a  stronger  resemblance  to  the  King  than  any  other  of 
his  children,  and  who  married  Prince  Armand  de  Conti,  nephew  of  the 
great  Condé. 

Meanwhile  the  Marquise  de  Montespan  comported  herself  as  favourite 


"ALCESTE,"  BY  MOLIÈRE,   ACTED  BEFORE  THE  KING    IN  THE  MARBLE  COURT  OF  THE 
CHÂTEAU  DE  VERSAILLES,  1674. 
(From  a  priut  by  Lepantre.) 


with  parade  and  imperiousness  that  contrasted  strongly  with  the  modesty 
and  gentleness  of  her  predecessor  in  the  royal  favour. 

During  the  competition  between  these  two  widely  different  women 
for  precedence  in  the  heart  of  the  King,  love  affairs  were  all  the  fashion 
at  C<ourt.  Even  Louvois  was  in  the  mode,  and  Madame  Dufresnoi,  the 
object  of  his  affections,  was  made  bed-chamber  woman  to  the  Queen,  and 
had  the  grandes  entrees.  The  King  showed  favour  to  the  failings  of  his 
Ministers  in  order  to  justify  his  own. 

A  striking  example  of  the  power  of  prejudice  and  custom  exists  in 
the  fact  that  all  the  married  women  were  permitted  to  have  lovers,  but 


LA    GRANDE  MADEMOISELLE 


109 


the  granddaughter  of  Henri   IV.  was  not  allowed   to  have  a  husband. 

iselle?  ciffcer  li3»vm^  refused  many  sovereigns,  after  having  hoped  to 
marry  Louis  XIV.,  wished,  at  forty-four,  to  make  the  fortune  of  a  mere 
gentleman.  She  obtained  permission  to  marry  Puyguilhem,  of  the  name 
of  Caumont,  Comte  de  Lauzun,  the  last  who  was  captain  of  one  of  the 
two  companies  of  the  hundred 
gentlemen  with  billhooks  (bec- 
de-corbin) — which  no  longer 
exist — and  the  first  for  whom 
the  King  created  the  military 
rank  of  colonel-general  of  the 
dragoons.  There  were  numer- 
ous instances  of  princesses  who 
had  married  gentlemen.  The 
Roman  Emperors  gave  their 
daughters  to  senators  ;  the 
daughters  of  Asiatic  sovereigns 
more  powerful  and  despotic 
than  a  king  of  France  always 
have  to  marry  their  fathers' 
slaves. 

Mademoiselle  gave  all 
her  possessions,  estimated  at 
twenty  millions,  to  the  Comte 
de  Lauzun— four  duchies.  She 
kept  nothing  for  herself,  but 
yielded  entirely  to  her 
cherished  idea  of  making  the  fortune  of  the  man  she  loved  on  a  grander- 
scale  than  any  king  had  ever  made  the  fortune  of  any  subject.  The 
contract  was  drawn  up,  nothing  but  the  signature  was  wanting.  All 
was  ready,  when  the  King,  persuaded  by  the  representations  of  the  Princes 
and  Ministers,  all  enemies  of  a  too-fortunate  man,  broke  his  word  and 
forbade  the  alliance.  He  had  written  to  the  foreign  Courts  to  announce  the 
marriage  ;  he  now  wrote  to  communicate  its  breaking-off.  He  was  blamed 
for  having  sanctioned  it  ;  he  was  blamed  for  having  prohibited  it.  He  wept 
over  the  grief  of  Mademoiselle  ;  but  the  same  prince  who  with  tears  broke 
his  word  to  her,  had  Lauzun  confined  in  the  prison-fortress  of  Pignerol, 


MADEMOISELLE   DE   MONTPENSIER   AS  MINERVA. 

(From  a  print  by  Poilly,  long  snpposed  to  be  a  portrait  of  Madame 
de  Longneville  by  the  same  artist.) 


110 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


THE  FUNERAL  OP  MADEMOISELLE  DE  MONTPENSIER. 
(After  au  engraving  of  the  time,  April  5,  1693.) 


in  November  1670,  for  having  married  privately  the  princess  whom  he 
had  given  him  permission  a  few  months  before  to  marry  in  public.  Lauzun 
was  imprisoned  for  ten  whole  years. 

Those  who  have  maintained  that  Madame  de  Montespan,  after  she  had 
prevented  the  marriage,  exacted  this  cruel  vengeance  from  Louis  XIV.  in 
her  anger  with  the  Comte  de  Lauzun  for  his  outspoken  reproaches,  have 
done  the  King  a  great  wrong.    There  would  have  been  both  tyranny  and 

cowardice  in  sacrificing  a  brave 
man  and  a  favourite,  whom 
he  had  already  deprived  of  the 
highest  favours  of  fortune,  to 
the  wrath  of  a  woman,  had  his 
only  offence  been  that  he  com- 
plained too  bitterly  of  Madame 
de  Montespan.  This  rectifica- 
tion is  due  to  the  rights  of 
humanity.  Louis  XIV.  never 
did  anything  in  the  whole  of 
his  reign  to  justify  such  an  accusation  against  him.  It  is  enough  that  a 
clandestine  marriage  which  he  would  more  wisely  have  ignored  was  punished 
so  heavily.  The  withdrawal  of  his  favour  was  very  just  ;  imprisonment 
was  too  severe. 

Those  who  have  doubted  this  marriage  have  only  to  read  the 
"  Mémoires  de  Mademoiselle  "  attentively.  Those  Memoirs  reveal  what  she 
does  not  say.  We  find  that  the  same  princess  who  complained  to  the  King 
so  bitterly  of  the  breaking-off  of  her  marriage,  did  not  venture  to  complain 
of  the  imprisonment  of  her  husband.  She  acknowledges  that  she  was 
believed  to  be  married  ;  she  does  not  say  that  she  was  not  ;  and  were 
there  no  other  evidence,  her  own  words,  "  I  neither  can  nor  ought  to 
change  towards  him,"  would  be  decisive.  Lauzun  and  Fouquet  were  much 
surprised  to  meet  each  other  in  the  same  prison,  but  especially  Fouquet, 
who,  having  seen  Puyguilhem,  a  mere  country  gentleman  without  fortune,  at 
a  distance  in  the  crowd  in  the  days  of  his  own  fame  and  power,  believed 
him  to  be  mad  when  he  stated  that  he  had  been  the  King's  favourite,  and 
had  received  permission  to  marry  the  granddaughter  of  Henri  IV.,  with 
all  the  property  and  titles  of  the  House  of  Montpensier. 

After  ten  years'  imprisonment  Lauzun  was  released,  but   not  until 


LAUZUN  RELEASED 


113 


Madame  de  Montespau  had  induced  Mademoiselle  to  give  the  dominion 
of  Dombes  and  the  couutship  of  Eu  to  the  Duc  du  Maine  (then  a  child), 
who  possessed  both  after  the  death  of  the  Princess.  She  made  this 
donation  in  the  hope  that  the  Comte  de  Lauzun  would  be  recognised  as  her 
husband,  but  she  was  mistaken.  The  King  allowed  her  to  bestow  on  this 
secret  and  impecunious  consort  only  her  lands  of  Saint-Fargeau  and  Thiers, 
with  a  considerable  income, 
which  Lauzun  regarded  as  in- 
sufficient, in  addition.  She  was 
reduced  to  the  condition  of  being 
secretly  his  wife,  and  not  being 
well  treated  by  him  in  public. 
Unhappy  at  Court,  unhappy  in 
her  home,  she  died  in  1693. 

The  Comte  de  Lauzun  went 
to  England  in  1G88.  Extra- 
ordinary adventures  were  this 
man's  destiny.  He  escorted 
Mary  of  Modena,  the  wife  of 
King  .lames  II.,  of  England, 
and  her  infant  son,  to  France  ; 
he  was  made  a  duke,  he  held  a 
command  in  the  Jacobite  army 
in  Ireland  with  but  little  dis- 
tinction, and  returned  with  a 
better  reputation  for  his 
adventures   than  for  personal 

character.  He  died  in  very  old  age,  and  forgotten,  like  all  those  who 
have  only  great  events  in  their  history,  but  have  not  done  great  things. 

* 

What  a  strange  figure  in  the  pictures  of  the  time  is  this  Gascon 
younger  son,  who  induced  such  a  king  as  Louis  XIV.  to  submit  to  all 
his  freaks;  this  hero  of  romance,  and  sometimes  of  burlesque  romance,  m 
a  strictly-regulated  Court  and  age.  Saint-Simon  has  portrayed  him  with 
spiteful  sprightliness  : — 

"He  was   a   little   man,  insipidly  fair,  well-built,  with   a  haughty 


MADAME  Die  MONTESPAU  AS  IRIS. 
(Kroiu  an  anonymous  painting  in  the  Musée  (le  Versailles.) 


114 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


countenance  full  of  intelligence,  a  striking  but  not  an  agreeable  face, 
according  to  what  I  have  heard  said  by  people  of  his  time  ;  full  of 
ambition,  caprice  and  fancies  ;  jealous  of  all,  always  striving  to  pass  the 
winning-post,  never  content  with  anything  ;  unlettered,  without  any  charm 
of  wit,  naturally  morose,  solitary,  unsociable  ;  very  lofty  in  his  manner, 
malicious  and  envious  by  nature,  jealous  and  ambitious,  nevertheless  a 
good  friend  when  he  was  a  friend,  which  was  seldom,  and  a  loyal  kinsman  ; 
merciless  to  faults,  ready  to  find  out  and  expose  them  to  ridicule, 
extremely  brave  and  also  recklessly  daring.  A  courtier  equally  insolent, 
scornful,  and  supple,  even  to  cringing  servility,  and  full  of  resource, 
industry,  intrigue,  and  baseness  in  order  to  gain  his  ends  ;  dangerous  to 
Ministers  as  well,  dreaded  at  Court  by  all,  and  given  to  cruel  pointed 
darts  [of  speech]  which  spared  no  one. 

"  He  had  come  to  Court  young  without  any  money,  a  Gascon 
younger  son — landed  from  his  province  under  the  name  of  Puyguilhem. 
The  Maréchal  de  Grammont,  his  father's  cousin-germane,  took  him  to  his 
house.  He  was  then  in  the  highest  favour  at  Court,  and  in  the 
confidence  of  the  Queen-mother  and  Cardinal  Mazarin  ;  he  had  the 
regiment  of  Guards,  with  the  reversion  for  the  Comte  de  Guiche,  his 
eldest  son,  the  pet  of  the  Court  and  the  ladies,  and  one  of  the  foremost 
in  the  good  graces  of  the  King,  and  also  of  the  Comtesse  de  Soissons, 
who  was  queen  of  the  Court,  and  from  whose  side  the  King  was  rarely 
absent.  The  Comte  de  Guiche  introduced  Puyguilhem  there,  and  he 
became  in  a  very  short  time  a  favourite  with  the  King,  who  created 
the  post  of  colonel  of  dragoons  for  him. 

"The  Duc  de  Mazarin,  who  had  already  retired  from  Court  in  16G9, 
wished  to  resign  his  post  as  Grand  Master  of  Artillery.  Puyguilhem  was  the 
first  to  get  wind  of  this,  and  asked  the  King  for  the  appointment.  The 
King  promised  it,  but  under  an  injunction  of  secrecy.  No  announcement 
was  made,  and  Puyguilhem,  after  long  waiting,  being  unable  to  guess  the 
origin  of  the  mischief,  resorted  to  an  expedient  so  daring  that,  if  it  had 
not  been  attested  by  all  the  Court  of  that  period,  it  would  be  incredible. 
He  induced  a  waiting-woman  to  hide  him  in  a  room  in  the  apartment  of 
Madame  de  Montespan  ;  from  her  conversation  with  the  King  he  learned 
that  the  opposition  to  his  appointment  came  from  Louvois. 

"  He  was  more  fortunate  than  wise,  and  escaped  discovery.  When 
Madame  de  Montespan  came  out,  on  her  way  to  the  theatre,  where  a 


LAUZUN    SENT    TO    THE  BASTILLE 


115 


ballet  was  to  be  rehearsed  before  the  King,  the  Queen,  and  the  whole 
Court,  Puyguilhem  offered  his  hand,  and  asked  her  with  an  air  of  the 
utmost  respect  and  amiability,  whether  he  might  flatter  himself  that  she 
had  deigned  to  speak  for  him  to  the  King.  She  assured  him  that  she  had 
not  failed  to  do  so.  He  drew  nearer,  and  speaking  into  her  ear,  told  her 
she  was  a  liar,  a  hussy,  a  jade,  and  repeated  word  for  word  the  conversation 
between  herself  and  the  King.  Madame  de  Montespa.11  was  so  overcome 
that  she  had  not  strength  to  answer 
by  even  a  single  word,  and  could 
hardly  gain  the  place  she  was  going 
to  ;  indeed  on  reaching  the  scene  of 
the  rehearsal  she  fainted. 

"  Puyguilhem,  on  his  side, 
furious  at  the  loss  of  the  artillery, 
espied  an  opportunity  for  a  tête-à- 
tête  with  the  King  and  seized  it, 
lie  addressed  him  boldly,  summoning 
him  to  redeem  his  promise.  The 
King  replied  that  he  was  not  bound 
to  do  so,  as  he  had  given  his  word 
under  a  pledge  of  secrecy,  which 
had  been  violated.  On  this  Puy- 
guilhem retired  a  few  steps,  turned 
his  back  to  the  King,  drew  his 
sword,  broke  the  blade  with  his 
foot,  and  exclaimed  in  a  fury  that 
he  would  no  longer  serve  a  prince 
who  had  so  shamefully  belied  his 
promise.  The  King,  although  in  a 
transport  of  anger,  did  what  was  perhaps  the  finest  action  of  his  life.  He 
turned  instantly,  opened  the  window,  Hung  his  cane  out,  said  that  he  should 
be  sorry  to  have  struck  a  man  of  quality,  and  walked  away." 

Lauzun  was  sent  to  the  Bastille  ;  he  came  out  Captain  of  the  Guard. 
In  1670  "  the  King,  wishing  to  make  a  triumphal  journey  with  the  ladies, 
gave  the  command  of  the  whole  affair  to  the  Comte  de  Lauzun,  with  the 
patent  of  a  general.  He  fulfilled  his  task  with  much  intelligence  and 
extreme   gallantry  and  magnificence."     His  marriage  with  Mademoiselle 


LOUIS  XIV.   IN  ARMOUR,   WITH  THE  RIBBON  OF  THE 
ORDER  OF  SAINT-LOUIS. 

(Anonymous  portrait  in  the  Musée  de  Versailles.) 


116 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


brought  about  a  fresh  quarrel  between  him  and  the  King,  and  was  not 
happy.  I  have  been  told  by  Madame  de  Fontenelles,  a  clever  and  amiable 
woman,  very  sincere,  and  of  singular  worth,  that  when  she  was  at 
Fontainebleau  with  Mademoiselle,  M.  de  Lauzun  came  to  spend  some 
time,  and  gave  his  wife  reason  for  jealousy.  Mademoiselle  in  a  fit  of 
anger  scratched  his  face  and  drove  him  from  her  presence.  Madame  de 
Fiesque  effected  a  reconciliation  between  them.  Mademoiselle  appeared  at 
one  end  of  the  gallery,  he  at  the  other,  and  he  shuffled  along  the  whole 

length  of  it  on  his  knees  to 
her  feet 


Scenes  more  or  less 
resembling  these  occurred  after- 
wards. 

"  He  got  weary  of  being 
beaten,  and  in  his  turn  beat 
Mademoiselle  soundly.  This 
happened  several  times,  so  that 
at  last,  being  tired  of  each 
other,  they  quarrelled  once  for 
all  and  never  met  again. 

"  He  had  perfect  health 
under  a  false  appearance  of 
delicacy.  He  dined  and  supped 
heartily  every  day  on  the  best 
and  most  delicate  fare,  eating 
of  everything,  feast  day  or  fast 
day,  according  to  his  taste, 
and  with  no  discretion.  On 
one  occasion,  when  he  dined 
with  me  after  an  illness,  he  ate  so  much  fish,  vegetables,  and  all  sorts  of 
things,  and  could  not  be  prevented,  that  we  sent  to  his  house  in  the 
evening  to  inquire  whether  he  had  not  suffered  severely.  He  was  found 
at  table,  eating  with  excellent  appetite." 

The  Marquise  de  Montespan  was  all  powerful  from  the  beginning  of 
the  foregoing  incidents. 

Athénaïs   de    Mortemart,   wife    of   the   Marquis  de  Montespan,  the 


EOUIS-AUGUSTE  DE  BOURBON,  DUC  DU  MAINE. 
(From  a  print  by  Dieu  and  Lepautre.) 


THE    MORTEMART    SISTERS  117 

Marquise  de  Thianges,  her  elder  sister,  and  her  younger,  for  whom 
she  obtained  the  Abbaye  de  Fontevrault,  were  the  handsomest  women 
of  their  time,  and  all  three  possessed  intellectual  gifts  as  well.  The 
Maréchal  Duc  de  Vivonne,  their  brother,  was  one  of  the  best  read  men 
of  the  Court.  It  was  to  him  that  the  King  said  one  day,  "  But  what 
good  does  reading  do  ?  "  The  Duc.  de  Vivonne,  who  was  portly  and 
rosy-cheeked,  replied,  "Reading  does  for  the  mind  what  your  partridges 
do  for  my  cheeks." 

These  four  persons  were  universally  admired  for  a  singular  talent  in 


A  STATE  COACH  OF  THli  TIME  OK  LOl'IS  XIV. 
(Hennin  Collection.) 


conversation,  a  mingling  of  humour,  simplicity  and  refinement  which  was 
called  l'esprit  des  Mortemart.  They  all  wrote  with  peculiar  ease  and 
grace,  a  fact  which  proves  how  absurd  is  the  story  I  have  heard  repeated 
even  yet,  that  Madame  de  Montespan  was  obliged  to  have  her  letters 
written  by  Madame  Scarron,  and  that  the  rivalry  between  them,  in  which 
the  latter  was  successful,  arose  from  that  cause. 

Madame  Scarron,  afterwards  Madame  de  Maintenon,  possessed,  it  is 
true,  more  of  the  cultivation  that  is  acquired  by  reading  ;  her  conversation 
was  more  smooth,  more  insinuating.  Art  embellishes  nature  in  her  letters, 
and  their  style  is  very  elegant,  But  Madame  de  Montespan  had  no 
occasion  to  borrow  anybody's  talent,  and  she  was  the  King's  favourite  long- 
before  Madame  de  Maintenon  was  even  presented  to  her. 


118  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

+ 

Everybody  at  the  Court  praised  the  wit  of  Madame  de  Montespan,  even 
as  Voltaire  did,  but  all  were  afraid  of  it.  "  She  was,"  says  Saint-Simon, 
"  censorious  and  capricious,  with  much  humour  and  a  haughty  superiority 
from  which  no  one  was  exempt,  the  King  no  more  than  any  other.  The 
courtiers  avoided  passing  under  her  windows,  especially  when  the  King- 
was  with  her.  They  said  it  was  like  being  riddled  with  shot  [passer  par 
les  armes),  and  the  saying  became  a  proverb  at  Court.  It  is  true  that  she 
spared  none,  though  frequently  with  no  other  purpose  than  to  amuse  the 
King,  and  as  she  had  infinité  wit  and  facility,  nothing  was  more  dangerous 
to  its  objects  than  the  ridicule  in  which  she  excelled.  With  all  this, 
however,  she  loved  her  people  and  her  kin,  and  did  not  neglect  to  serve 
those  whom  she  regarded  with  friendship. 

"  The  Court  of  Madame  de  Montespan  became  the  centre  of  the  real 
Court,  the  source  of  pleasure,  fortune,  the  hopes  and  fears  of  ministers  and 
generals,  and  also  of  the  humiliation  of  France.  It  was  also  the  centre  of 
a  particular  kind  of  wit  so  keen  and  delicate,  natural,  and  agreeable  that 
its  character  was  unique. 

"  That  charming  and  simple  '  turn  '  is  still  to  be  found  among  persons 
brought  up  in  the  households  of  the  Mortemart  sisters,  and  who  were 
attached  to  them  ;  these  may  be  recognised  among  a  thousand  in  the  most 
ordinary  conversation. 

"  Mademoiselle  de  Fontevrault  (the  Abbess)  was  the  most  witty  of  the 
three,  and  probably  the  most  beautiful.  She  was  also  highly  and  variously 
informed,  well  versed  in  patristic  theology,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
Scriptures,  and  learned  in  the  classic  languages.  In  the  discussion  of  such 
matters  she  always  excelled  her  hearers. 

"  But,  apart  from  this,  although  her  intelligence  could  not  be  hidden, 
she  would  not  have  been  supposed  to  possess  more  learning  than  the 
generality  of  her  sex.  She  excelled  in  every  kind  of  writing,  and  had  a 
special  gift  for  the  government  of  her  Order  and  for  making  herself 
beloved  in  it,  while  keeping  it  under  strictest  rule. 

"  Mademoiselle  de  Thianges  domineered  over  her  two  sisters,  and  even 
over  the  King,  whom  she  amused  more  successfully  than  they.  So  long- 
as  she  lived  she  ruled  him,  and  was  treated  with  the  greatest  attention 
and  exceptional  observance,  even  after  Madame  de  Montespan  had  finally 
retired  from  Court." 


A    ROYAL  PROGRESS 


119 


The  triumph  of  the  Marquise  de  Montespan  was  openly  manifested 
during  the  royal  progress  in  Flanders  in  1C>70.  The  ruin  of  the  Dutch 
was  arranged  in  that  journey,  which  was  a  continuous  fête  conducted  with 
the  utmost  pomp. 

The  King,  who  made  all  his  military  journeys  on  horseback,  used  a 
glass  coach  on  this  occasion  for  the  first  time — post-chaises  were  not  yet 
invented.    The  Queen,  Madame,  and  Madame  de  Montespan  also  occupied 


that  superb  equipage,  and  when  Madame  de  Montespan  went  out  alone  she 
hud  two  of  the  bodyguards  at  each  door  of  her  coach.  Then  came  the 
Dauphin  with  his  suite,  and  Mademoiselle  with  hers.  This  was  before  the 
fatal  adventure  of  her  marriage;  she  had  a  peaceful  share  in  all  these 
triumphs,  and  rejoiced  to  see  her  lover,  the  King's  favourite,  at  the  head  of 
his  company  of  the  Guards.  The  finest  furniture  in  the  Garde-Meuble  was 
sent  on  in  advance  to  the  towns  where  the  royal  procession  halted  for  the 
night,  and  in  each  a  masked  or  fancy  ball  was  given,  or  a  display  of  fireworks. 

The  whole  of  the  King's  military  household  accompanied,  and  the 
whole  of  his  domestic  household  preceded  or  followed  him.    The  tables 


120  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

were  laid  as  at  Saint-Germain.  The  Court  visited  all  the  conquered 
cities  in  this  style.  The  principal  ladies  of  Brussels  and  Ghent  came  to 
behold  the  magnificent  spectacle.  The  King  invited  them  to  his  table 
and  made  them  presents  ;  all  the  officers  of  the  troops  in  garrison  received 
gratuities.  On  several  occasions  the  cost  of  gifts  amounted  to  fifteen 
hundred  louis-d'or  a  day.  Madame,  who  had  arranged  for  the  alliance  of 
the  two  kings  and  the  destruction  of  Holland,  embarked  at  Dunkirk  on 
one  of  the  ships  belonging  to  the  fleet  of  King  Charles  II.,  her  brother, 
with  some  members  of  the  French  Court.  Madame  was  attended  by 
Mademoiselle  de  Kéroual  (de  la  Quérouaille),  afterwards  Duchess  of  Ports- 


A  TABLE  OF  THE  TIME  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 

(Mobilier  National.— Château  de  Fontainebleau.) 


mouth,  whose  beauty  equalled  that  of  Madame  de  Montespan.  No  woman 
has  ever  retained  her  beauty  longer.  We  saw  her  when  she  was  close  upon 
seventy  ;  her  face,  which  had  not  faded  with  age,  was  still  noble  and  pleasing. 

Madame  went  to  meet  her  brother  at  Canterbury,  and  came  back  in 
all  the  glory  of  success.  She  was  enjoying  this  when  a  sudden  and  painful 
death  removed  her  on  the  30th  June,  1G70.  The  grief  and  consternation 
of  the  Court  were  much  increased  by  the  mode  of  her  death.  It  was 
reported  that  the  Princess  had  been  poisoned.  The  English  Ambassador 
(Earl  of  Montagu)  was  persuaded  of  this,  the  Court  did  not  doubt  it,  and  all 
Europe  believed  it.  One  of  the  former  servants  in  the  household  of  Monsieur 
named  to  me  the  person  who  (according  to  him)  had  administered  the  poison. 
;£  This  man,"  he  said,  "  who  was  not  rich,  retired  immediately  afterwards 


THE    DEATH    OF    MADAME  121 

to  Normandy,  where  he  bought  an  estate,  and  he  lived  long  there  in 
opulence.  The  poison,"  he  added,  "was  diamond-powder,  strewn  on  straw- 
berries instead  of  sugar." 

"The  Court  and  the  town  believed  that  Madame  had  been  poisoned 
by   chicory- water,   as,    after   drinking   some,    she    suffered  terribly,  and 


CHIMNEY  BACK  AND  DOGS  OF  THE  TIME  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 

(Château  do  Fontainebleau. — Salon  François  l".) 


death-convulsions  came  on  quickly.  There  was  however  no  reason  for  this 
general  belief  except  human  malignity  and  the  love  of  the  extraordinary. 
The  water  could  not  have  contained  poison,  seeing  that  Madame  de 
Lafayette  and  another  person  drank  what  remained  in  the  glass  without 
feeling  the  slightest  inconvenience.  Diamond-powder  is  no  more  a  poison 
than  coral-powder.    Madame  had  been  ill  for  a  long  time  from  abscess  in 

R 


122 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


the  liver  ;  she  was  very  unhealthy,  and  had  given  birth  to  a  shockingly 
diseased  child.  Her  husband,  who  was  strongly  suspected  in  Europe, 
was  not  even  accused  of  any  black  deed,  either  before  or  after  this  event, 
and  criminals  who  have  committed  only  one  crime  are  rare.  The  human 
race  would  be  too  wretched  were  it  as  common  to  do  atrocious  things 
as  it  is  to  believe  them. 

It  was  alleo-ed  that  the  Chevalier  de  Lorraine,  a  favourite  of  Monsieur, 

who  had  been  imprisoned  and  exiled  in 
consequence  of  some  culpable  conduct  of 
his  towards  Madame,  had  taken  this  terrible 
method  of  revenge.  No  attention  was  paid 
to  the  fact  that  the  Chevalier  de  Lorraine 
was  then  in  Rome,  and  that  it  is  very 
difficult  for  a  Knight  of  Malta,  aged  twenty, 
to  procure  from  Rome  the  death  of  a 
great  princess  in  Paris. 

To  a  weakness  and  an  indiscretion  of 
the  Vicomte  de  Turenne  the  origin  of  all 
these  odious  rumours,  which  are  even  yet 
revived  with  apparent  pleasure,  must  un- 
happily be  traced.  At  sixty  years  of  age 
he  was  the  lover  and  the  dupe  of  Madame 
de  Coëtquen,  as  he  had  been  of  Madame 
de  Longueville.  He  revealed  the  state 
secret,  which  was  kept  from  Monsieur,  to 
that  lady  ;  she  told  it  to  the  Chevalier  de  Lorraine,  with  whom  she  was  in 
love,  and  he  informed  Monsieur.  This  gave  rise  to  the  bitterest  reproach 
and  jealousy  in  the  prince's  domestic  life,  and  before  Madame  went  on  her 
mission  to  England  there  was  considerable  trouble,  which  was  redoubled  on 
her  return.  Monsieur's  fits  of  passion  and  the  quarrels  of  his  favourites 
with  Madame's  friends  made  his  house  a  scene  of  confusion  and  misery. 
A  short  time  before  her  death  Madame  reproached  Madame  de  Coëtquen 
in  gentle  and  moving  terms  with  the  unhappiness  she  had  caused.  The 
Marquise,  kneeling  by  the  side  of  her  bed  and  shedding  tears  upon  her 
hand,  replied  in  these  lines  from  Venceslas — 

J'allais  .  .  .  j'étais  .  .  .  l'amour  a  sur  moi  tant  d'empire  .  .  . 
Je  me  confonds,  Madame,  et  ne  puis  rien  vous  dire. 


THE  VICOMTE  DE  TURENNE. 

(Portrait  sketch  by  Lebrun. 
Musée  de  Versailles.) 


THE  HEQUIHM  MASS  FOU  MADAME. 
(From  a  print  l>y  Lepautre.) 


A    POISON  PANIC 


125 


The  Chevalier  de  Lorraine,  who  originated  the  dissension,  was  at  first 
sent  by  the  King  to  Pierre-Encise  ;  the  Comte  de  Marsan,  of  the  House 
of  Lorraine,  and  the  Marquis  (afterwards  Maréchal)  de  Villeroi  were  exiled. 
The  natural  death  of  the  unfortunate  Princess  was  popularly  believed  to 
be  a  crime  committed  in  consequence  of  those  measures. 

The  public  were  unfortunately  in  the  suspicion  of  foul  play  by  the 
fact  that  about  this  time  the  crime  of  poison  began  to  be  known  in 
France.  That  cowardly  kind  of  vengeance,  which  had  not  been  practised 
in  the  horrors  of  the  civil  war,  by  a  singular  fatality  broke  out  in 
France  in  the  era  of  glory  and  pleasure,  at  a  period  which  softened  and 


THE  LOVES  WEEPING  AROUND  THE  COFFIN  OF  HENRIETTA  OF  ENGLAND. 
(Composition  by  Lepautre,  June  30,  1665.) 


refined  the  national  manners,  even  as  it  crept  into  Rome  in  the 
palmiest  days  of  the  Republic. 

Two  Italians,  one  of  them  was  named  Exili,  had  been  occupied  for 
a  long  time,  in  company  with  one  Glaser,  a  German,  in  seeking  what 
is  called  the  philosopher's  stone.  The  two  Italians  lost  the  little  that 
they  had,  and  endeavoured  to  repair  their  misfortune,  which  was  due  to 
their  folly,  by  crime.    They  sold  poisons  secretly. 

The  Grand  Penitentiary  of  Paris  learned  through  the  confessional  that 
some  deaths  by  poison  had  taken  place,  and  he  informed  the  Govern- 
ment in  general  terms  of  the  fact.  The  two  Italians  were  suspected 
and  sent  to  the  Bastille,  where  one  of  them  died.  Exili  was  kept  in 
prison  without  being  convicted,  and  from  thence  he  spread  throughout 


126 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Palis  the  secrets  that  cost  the  Civil  Lieutenant  d'Aubray  and  his  family 
their  lives,  and  led  to  the  institution  of  the  court  for  the  investigation  of 
poisoning  cases,  called  La  Chambre  Ardente  (Star  Chamber). 

These  dreadful  crimes  had  their  origin  in  love.  The  Marquis  de 
Brinvilliers,  whose  wife  was  the  daughter  of  the  Civil  Lieutenant,  received 
into   his   house   a  captain    in    his    regiment   named   Sainte-Croix.  The 

Marquise  acknowledged  to  her  husband 
that  she  found  their  handsome  guest 
very  attractive  ;  but  he  persisted  in 
throwing  her  constantly  into  the  society 
of  Sainte-Croix,  and  an  intrigue  was  the 
result.  The  Civil  Lieutenant  was  so 
severe  and  so  imprudent  as  to  solicit  a 
lettre  de  cachet,  and  to  have  the  Captain 
sent  to  the  Bastille  instead  of  having 
him  sent  to  his  regiment.  Unfor- 
tunately Sainte- Croix  was  placed  in  the 
same  room  with  Exili.  The  Italian 
taught  him  a  sure  mode  of  vengeance, 
with  the  well-known  terrible  results. 
The  Marquise  did  not  take  the  life  of 
her  husband,  who,  knowing  himself  to 
be  much  to  blame,  had  treated  her  with 
indulgence  ;  but  in  her  thirst  for 
revenge  she  poisoned  her  father,  her 
two  brothers,  and  her  sister.  In  the 
midst  of  all  these  crimes  she  practised 
lier  religion,  going  frequently  to  confession  ;  and  when  she  was  arrested 
at  Liège  a  general  confession,  written  by  her  own  hand,  was  found.  This 
did  not  furnish  proof  against  her,  but  it  did  furnish  presumptive 
evidence.  It  is  untrue  that  she  had  made  trial  of  her  poisons  in  the 
hospitals,  as  the  people  said,  and  as  it  is  stated  in  "  Causes  Célèbres,"  a 
work  written  by  a  lawyer  without  clients,  and  made  up  for  the  people  ; 
but  it  is  true  that  she  and  Sainte-Croix  had  secret  dealings  with  persons 
who  were  afterwards  accused  of  poisoning  crimes.  She  was  burned  in  1676, 
having  previously  been  beheaded.  But  the  crime  of  poisoning  infected 
Paris  from  1670,  when  Exili  began  to  make  poisons,  until  1680. 


THE  CIVIL  LIEUTENANT  D  AUBRAY,   FATHER  OF 
MADAME  DE  BHINVILLIERS. 
(Portrait  from  life  by  Xauteuil.) 


LA  VOISTN 


127 


Voisin,  Vigoureux,  a  priest  named  Le  Sage  and  others  trafficked 
in  the  secrets  of  Exili,  under  the  pretext  of  amusing  curious  and  weak- 
minded  persons  by  producing  apparitions.  The  crime  was  believed  to  be 
more  wide-spread  than  it  really  was.    The  Star  Chamber  was  established 


THK  PORTRAIT,   THE  CRIMES,   AND  THI!  SORCERIES  OF  LA  VOISIN. 
(A  popular  print,  February  22,  1680.) 


at  the  Arsenal,  near  the  Bastille,  in  1680.  The  greatest  personages  were 
cited  thither,  among  others  two  nieces  of  Cardinal  Mazarin,  the  Duchesse 
de  Bouillon,  and  the  Comtesse  de  Soissons,  mother  of  Prince  Eugène. 

The  Duchesse  de  Bouillon  was  summoned  merely  as  a  matter  of  form, 
and  accused  of  no  worse  than  foolish  curiosity,  too  general  at  the  time, 
but  not  an  affair  of  justice.     The  old  custom  of  consulting  soothsayers, 


128 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


having  horoscopes  drawn,  and  employing  love-philters  and  charms  was 
still  retained  among  the  people,  and  even  among  the  first  personages  of 
the  kingdom. 

We  have  already  remarked  that  at  the  birth  of  Louis  XIV.  Morin, 
the  astrologer,  had  been  brought  into  the  very  room  of  Anne  of  Austria 
to  draw  the  horoscope  of  the  heir  to  the  crown.  We  have  seen  the 
Duc  d'Orléans,  Regent  of  France,  prying  into  the  imposture  that  bewitched 
the  whole  of  the  ancient  world  ;  and  all  the  philosophy  of  the  celebrated 
Comte  de  Boulainvillers  failed  to  cure  him  of  that  delusion.  It  was 
very  pardonable  in  the  Duchesse  de  Bouillon  and  the  other  ladies  who 
shared  the  prevalent  weakness.    Le  Sage  and  the  two  women,  Voisin  and 

Vigoureux,  made  an  income 
out  of  the  curiosity  of  the 
ignorant,  who  were  very 
numerous.  They  predicted  the 
future,  they  called  up  the  devil. 
If  they  had  stopped  there  they 
would  have  appeared  in  the 
Star  Chamber  as  objects  of 
ridicule  only. 

La    Eeynie,    one    of  the 
presidents,  was  so  ill  advised 
as  to   ask   the    Duchesse  de 
Bouillon  whether  she  had  seen 
the  devil.     The  Duchess  replied  that  she  was  looking  then  at  him  ;  that 
he  was  very  ugly,  and  disguised  as  a  Councillor  of  State.    The  examination 
proceeded  no  farther. 

The  affair  of  the  Comtesse  de  Soissons  and  the  Maréchal  de  Luxembourg 
was  more  serious.  Le  Sage,  Voisin,  Vigoureux,  and  other  accomplices  were 
in  prison,  charged  with  having  sold  poisons  which  were  called  "  La  Poudre 
de  Succession  "  ;  they  accused  all  who  had  come  to  consult  them.  The 
Comtesse  de  Soissons  was  one  of  these.  The  King  condescended  to  say 
to  the  Princess  that  he  advised  her  to  retire  if  she  knew  herself  to  be 
guilty.  She  replied  that  she  was  innocent,  but  that  she  did  not  like  being 
examined  by  a  court  of  justice.  Subsequently  she  withdrew  to  Brussels, 
where  she  died  at  the  close  of  1708,  when  her  son  Prince  Eugene  avenged 
her  by  his  many  victories  and  his  triumph  over  Louis  XIV. 


THE  DEMON  OF  MONEY. 
(Popular  satire  ou  the  needs  of  the  time,  1680.) 


SORCERY 


129 


Francois  Henri  de  Montmorenci-Boutteville,  duke,  peer  and  Marshal 
of  France,  who  united  the  great  name  of  Montmorenci  to  that  of  the 
imperial  House  of  Luxembourg,  and  was  already  famous  in  Europe  as  a  great 
captain,  was  denounced  to  the  Star  Chamber.  One  of  his  men  of  business 
named  Bonard,  wanting  to  recover  some  important  papers  that  had  been 
lost,  applied  to  Le  Sage  to  enable  him  to  find  them.  Le  Sage  began  by 
requiring  him  to  go  to  confession  and  to  visit  three  different  churches, 
where  he  was  to  recite  three 


or 


nine  successive 


psalms 
days. 

Notwithstanding  the  con- 
fession and  the  psalms,  the 
papers  were  not  found  ;  they 
were  in  the  hands  of  a  woman 
named  Dupin.  Bonard,  in  the 
presence  of  Le  Sage,  went 
through  a  kind  of  incantation. 
Dnpin  did  not  give  up  any- 
thing. Bonard  in  despair  got 
a  fresh  power  of  attorney  from 
the  Marshal,  and  between  the 
text  and  the  signature  were  two 
lines  in  a  different  handwriting, 
by  which  the  Marshal  gave 
himself  to  the  devil. 

Le  Sage,  Bonard,  Voisin, 
Vigoureux,  and  more  than  forty 
accused  persons  having  been 
confined  in  the  Bastille,  Le 
Sage  deposed  that  the  Marshal 

bad  addressed  himself  to  the  devil  and  to  him  to  procure  the  death  of 
Dupin,  who  would  not  restore  the  papers;  their  accomplices  added  that 
they  had  assassinated  Dupin  by  his  orders,  had  then  cut  the  body  into  four 
quarters  and  thrown  it  into  the  river. 

These  accusations  were  equally  improbable  and  atrocious.  The  Marshal 
had  right  of  trial  before  the  Court  of  Peers;  both  the  Parliament  and 
the  Peers  ought  to  have  claimed  their  right  to  try  him  :  they  did  not  do 


VOISIN  BETWEEN  DEATH  AND   THE  DEVIL. 
(Composition  by  Coypel.) 


130 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


this.  The  accused  presented  himself  at  the  Bastille — a  step  which  proved 
his  innocence  of  the  alleged  assassination. 

Louvois,  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  had  no  liking  for  the  Marshal- 
Duke,  had  him  confined  in  a  sort  of  dungeon  six  and  a  half  feet  long, 
where  he  became  very  ill.  He  was  examined  on  the  second  day,  and 
then  left  for  five  weeks  without  continuation  of  his  trial — a  cruel  injustice 

to  an  accused  person  of  any 
sort,  but  still  more  unwarrant- 
able in  the  case  of  a  peer  of 
the  realm.  He  wished  to  write 
to  the  Marquis  de  Louvois  to 
complain  of  this,  but  he  was 
not  permitted.  At  length  his 
examination  was  resumed.  He 
was  asked  whether  he  had 
not  given  bottles  of  poisoned 
wine  for  the  purpose  of  killing 
Dupin's  brother  and  a  woman 
who  lived  with  him.  It  seemed 
very  absurd  that  a  Marshal  of 
France,  who  had  commanded 
armies,  should  want  to  poison 
a  petty  tradesman  and  his 
mistress,  having  nothing  what- 
soever to  gain  by  so  great 
a  crime. 

At  last  he  was  confronted 

A  GIPSY  TELLING  HIS  FORTUNE  TO  A  SOLDIER. 
(From  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc,  taken  from  Ses  conditions  de  la  vie  with  Le  Sage  and  another  pi'iest 

humaine.') 

named  d  Avaux,  and  accused  of 
having  practised  sorcery  with  them  to  procure  the  death  of  more  than 
one  person. 

The  whole  origin  of  his  misfortune  was  his  having  once  seen  Le 
Sage,  and  asked  him  for  certain  horoscopes. 

Among  the  horrible  imputations  upon  which  the  prosecution  was 
founded,  was  a  statement  by  Le  Sage  that  the  Marshal  had  made  a 
compact  with  the  devil  in  order  to  marry  his  daughter  to  the  son  of  the 
Marquis  de  Louvois.    The  accused  answered — 


MONTMORENCI 


131 


"  When  Mathieu  de  Montmoreuci  wedded  the  widow  of  Louis  le 
Gros,  he  did  not  address  himself  to  the  devil,  but  to  the  States-General  : 
they  declared  that  the  marriage  was  necessary  to  secure  the  support  of 
the  Montmorencis  for  the  King,  who  was  a  minor." 

This  was  a  proud  answer,  and  not  that  of  a  guilty  man.  The  trial 
lasted  fourteen  months.  No  judgment  was  given  either  for  or  against 
the  Marshal.  Voisin,  Vigoureux 
and  her  brother  were  burned 
in  the  Place  de  la  Grève,  to- 
gether with  Le  Sage.  The 
Maréchal  de  Luxembourg  went 
into  the  country  for  a  few 
days  and  afterwards  returned 
to  Court  in  his  capacity  of 
Captain  of  the  Guard,  without 
seeing  Louvois,  and  without  the 
King's  having  spoken  a  word 
to  him  of  all  that  had  passed. 
We  know  that  subsequently  he 
had  the  command  of  the  army 
—for  which  he  had  not  asked — 
and  that  his  many  victories 
imposed  silence  on  his  enemies. 

We  may  judge  what  terrible 
rum<  »urs  were  set  going  in  Paris 
by  all  these  accusations.  The 
punishment  of  Voisin  and  her 
accomplices  by  fire  put  an  end 
to  the  pursuit  of  criminals  and 
to  the  crime  of  poisoning.  That 
abomination  was  practised  by 

only  a  few  individuals  ;  it  did  not  corrupt  the  humane  morals  of  the  nation, 
but  it  left  behind  it  in  the  public  mind  a  dangerous  tendency  to  suspect 
natural  deaths  of  having  been  violent,  Thus  the  same  miserable  fate  that 
was  popularly  believed  to  have  befallen  Madame  was  afterwards  believed  to 
have  befallen  her  daughter,  Marie  Louise,  who  was  married  to  the  King  of 
Spain,  Carlos  IL,  in  1679.     The  young  Princess  set  out  for  Madrid  with 


A  CRIMINAL  GOING  TO  EXECUTION. 
(From  a  contemporary  drawing.) 


132  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

reluctance.  Mademoiselle  had  often  said  to  Monsieur,  the  King's  brother, 
"  Do  not  take  your  daughter  to  Court  so  frequently  ;  she  will  be  unhappy 
elsewhere."  Marie  Louise  wished  to  marry  Monseigneur  [the  Dauphin]. 
"  I  make  you  Queen  of  Spain,"  said  the  King  to  her  ;  "  what  more  could 
I  do  for  my  daughter  ?  "  "  Ah,"  she  answered,  "  you  could  do  more  for 
your  niece."     She  was  taken  away  from  this  world  in  16G9,  at  the  same 

age  as  her  mother.  It  was  re- 
garded as  beyond  question  that 
the  Austrian  Council  of  Carlos 
II.  wanted  to  get  rid  of  her 
because  she  loved  her  own 
country,  and  might  prevent  the 
King  her  husband  from  declar- 
ing himself  on  the  side  of  the 
allies  against  France.  A  so- 
called  antidote  was  even  sent 
to  her  from  Versailles  ;  a  very 
uncertain  precaution,  for  a 
medicine  that  can  cure  one 
kind  of  malady  may  aggravate 
another,  and  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  universal  counter- 
poison.  The  pretended  antidote 
arrived  after  the  young  Queen's 
death.  In  the  Memoirs  com- 
piled by  the  Marquis  de  Dangeau 
it  is  stated  that  Louis  XIV., 
being  at  supper,  said  :  "  The 
Queen  of  Spain  has  died,  poisoned  in  an  eel-pie  ;  the  Comtesse  de  Pernitz, 
and  the  two  waiting- women,  Zapata  and  Nina,  who  ate  after  her,  have  died 
of  the  same  poison." 

After  I  had  read  this  strange  anecdote  in  the  manuscript  Memoirs, 
said  to  have  been  carefully  compiled  by  a  courtier  who  was  hardly 
ever  away  from  Louis  XIV.  during  forty  years,  I  still  remained  in  doubt 
on  this  matter.  I  inquired  of  former  servants  of  the  King  whether  he, 
who  was  always  reticent  of  speech,  had  ever  uttered  words  so  imprudent. 
They  assured  me  that  nothing  could  be  more  false.    I  asked  the  Duchesse 


MARIE  LOUISE  D'ORLÉANS,  DAUGHTER  OF  MONSIEUR, 
QUEEN  OP  SPAIN. 

(From  a  print  by  Vischer.) 


THE    PRINCESS    PALATINE  133 

de  Saint-Pierre,  who  had  just  come  from  Spain,  whether  it  was  true  that 
those,  three  persons  had  died  with  the  Queen.  She  gave  me  attested 
evidence  that  all  three  had  long  survived  their  mistress.  In  short  I  learned 
that  these  Memoirs  of  the  Marquis  de  Dangeau  were  only  news-letter 
history  (nouvelles  à  la  main),  sometimes  written  by  one  of  his  servants  ; 
and  I  can  answer  for  it  that  the  fact  is  often  perceptible  in  the  style, 
the  falsehoods,  and  the  trivialities  which  abound  in  the  collection.  After 


COMPOSITION  BY  B  Kit  A  IN  FOU  A   FUNERAL  CKKHMONY. 


this  digression  we  must  revert  to  the  events  that  ensued  at  Court  on  the 
death  of  the  English  Princess. 

A  year  after  the  death  of  Madame  she  was  succeeded  by  the  Princess 
Palatine,  who  became  the  mother  of  the  future  Duc  d'Orléans,  afterwards 
Regent.  She  had  to  renounce  Calvinism  in  order  to  marry  Monsieur,  but 
she  always  entertained  a  secret  respect  for  her  former  religion— a  sentiment 
difficult  to  renounce  when  it  has  been  impressed  upon  the  heart  in 
childhood. 

A  change  was  then  made  in  the  Queen's  establishment  :  twelve  ladies 
of  the  palace  were  substituted  for  the  twelve  maids  of  honour,  and  since 
then  this  arrangement  of  the  household  of  the  Queen  has  been  maintained. 
The  new  establishment  rendered  the  Court  circle  more  full  and  magnificent 


134 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


by  the  residence  of  the  husbands  and  kinsmen  of  those  ladies  there  ; 
society  became  more  numerous,  and  larger  expenditure  prevailed. 

The  Dauphine,  a  Bavarian  Princess,  contributed  in  the  beginning  to 
the  brightness  and  vivacity  of  the  Court. 

Madame  de  Montespan  was  still  treated  with  great  friendship  and 
consideration,  but  this  did  not  console  her.  The  King,  who  was  sorry 
to  cause  her  such  violent  grief,  had  already  found  the  gentle  manners 


THE  ROYAL  PAXACE  OF  VERSAILLES  IN  1674  :    PRINCIPAL  FRONT. 
(From  a  print  by  Israel  Silvestre.1 


and  conversation  of  Madame  de  Maintenon  more  to  his  mind.  The  Court 
was  in  suspense  between  the  three  rivals,  Madame  de  Montespan, 
Mademoiselle  de  Fontanges,  and  Madame  de  Maintenon,  whose  society 
was  becoming  necessary  to  his  troubled  soul.  It  is  to  the  credit  of 
Louis  XIV.  that  none  of  these  affairs  had  any  influence  on  general 
business,  and  that  the  Government  did  not  suffer  in  the  least  from  the 
causes  that  disturbed  the  Court.  I  regard  this  as  a  proof  of  the  King's 
greatness  of  mind,  and  would  even  hold  that  these  Court  intrigues,  having 
nothing  to  do  with  the  State,  ought  uot  to  come  into  history  at  all,  were 
it  not  that  everything  in  the  great  century  of  Louis  XIV.  is  interesting, 


MADAME    DE  MAINTENON 


135 


FAN   REPRESENTING   A  WATER  FÊTE  ON  THF,  CUAND  CANAL  AT  VERSAILLES, 
(lu  the  time  of  the  favour  of  Mailauie  <ie  Maiutenon.) 


and  that  so  many  historians  have  treated  of  these  matters,  mostly  to 
misrepresent  them. 

The  youth  and  beauty  of  Mademoiselle  de  Fontanges,  the  birth  of 
her  son  in  1680,  and  the  title  of  duchess  which  she  had  received,  excluded 
Madame  de  Maiutenon  from  the  first  place  in  the  King's  favour;  but  the 
Duchesse  de  Fontanges  and  her  son 
died  in  1681. 

The  Marquise  de  Montespan  had 
no  longer  an  avowed  rival,  hut  she 
had  lost  her  hold  on  the  King's  affec- 
tions ;  he  was  tired  of  her  and  her 
complaining.  Madame  de  Maiutenon, 
who  felt  the  secret  power  that  she 
was  gaining  day  by  day,  conducted 
herself  wTith  art  and  discretion.  During 
this  time  of  her  growing  favour,  and 
while  Madame  de  Montespan  was 
nearing  her  fall,  these  two  rivals  met 
every  day,  sometimes  with  concealed 
dislike,  at  others  in  a  transient  in- 
timacy, induced  by  the  necessity  of 
sneaking    to    one    another    and  the 

r  °  LOVE  AT  THE  CHÂTEAU. 

weariness  of  constraint.     They  agreed  (Composition  by  Leclerc  for  the  Lorraine  series.) 


136 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


that  each  should  write  memoirs  of  all  that  was  going  on  at  Court.  The 
respective  works  did  not  make  much  progress.  Madame  de  Montespan 
used  to  read  aloud  passages  from  hers  to  her  friends  in  the  last  years 
of  her  life.  Religion  had  also  intervened  ;  the  King's  conscience  was 
awakened,  and  this  made  the  position  of  Madame  de  Maintenon  more 
secure,    and    that    of    Madame    de    Montespan    more    hopeless.  This 

embarrassing  state  of  things  lasted 
until  1685,  the  memorable  year  of 
the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes.  Then  far  different  scenes 
were  beheld  :  on  one  side  despair  and 
the  flight  of  a  portion  of  the  nation, 
on  the  other  fresh  fêtes  at  Versailles, 
Trianon  and  Marly  built,  and  gardens 
— in  which  the  resources  of  art  were 
exhausted — laid  out.  The  last 
triumph  of  Madame  de.  Montespan, 
prior  to  her  withdrawal  from  Court, 
was  the  marriage  of  Mademoiselle 
de  Nantes,  her  daughter  by  the 
King,  with  the  Duc  de  Chartres, 
afterwards  Regent  of  the  kingdom, 
and  the  marriage  of  the  Duc  du 
Maine,  her  son,  with  Louise  Bénédicte 
de  Bourbon,  granddaughter  of  the 
great  Condé  and  sister  of  the  Due 
de  Chartres,  a  princess  renowned  for 
her  talents  and  her  artistic  tastes. 
(1685.)  In  honour  of  the  marriage  of  the  Duc  de  Chartres  and 
Mademoiselle  de  Nantes,  but  before  its  celebration,  the  Marquis  de 
Seignelay  (Colbert)  gave  a  fête,  worthy  of  Louis  XI V.,  in  the  gardens  at 
Sceaux,  which  Le  Nôtre  had  laid  out  and  planted  as  tastefully  as  those  of 
Versailles.  There  the  idyl  of  La  Paix,  composed  .by  Racine,  was  performed. 
A  tournament  was  held  at  Versailles,  and  after  the  marriage  the  King  dis- 
played his  magnificence  in  a  fashion  which  had  been  originated  by  Mazarin 
in  1G56.  In  the  great  salon  at  Marly  four  stalls  were  set  up,  laden  with 
all  the  richest  and  rarest  products  of  Parisian  industry.    These  four  stalls, 


LOUIS  XIV.   AT  THE  FEET  OF  MADEMOISELLE 
DE  FONTANGES. 
(From  a  satirical  print  early  iu  the  eighteenth  century.) 


A    LOTTERY    WITH    NO  BLANKS 


137 


which  formed  superb  décorations,  represented  the  four  seasons  of  the  year. 
Madame  de  Montespan  held  one  stall  with  Monseigneur  [the  DauphinJ  ; 
Madame  de  Maintenon,  her  rival,  held  a  second  with  the  Duc  du  Maine  ; 
the  bride  and  bridegroom  each  held  one  ;  the  Duke  with  Madame  de 
Thiange,  and  the  Duchess,  whom  decorum  forbade  to  hold  hers  with  a 
man  on  account  of  her  extreme  youth,  was  with  the  Duchesse  de 
Chevreuse.  The  ladies  and  gentlemen  nominated  for  the  "voyage"  drew 
lots  for  the  jewellery  laid  out  on  the  stalls.  Thus  the  King  made  presents 
to  all  the  Court  in  a  manner  worthy  of  a  King.  Cardinal  Mazarin's  lottery 
was  less  ingenious  and  less 
splendid.  The  Roman  Emperors 
had  indeed  previously  adopted 
the  custom  of  lotteries,  but  none 
of  them  combined  their  mag- 
i  [ficence  with  equal  gallantry. 

After  the  marriage  of  her 
daughter,  Madame  de  Montespan 
appeared  no  more  at  Court. 
She  lived  in  Paris  with  great 
dignity.  She  had  a  large 
revenue,  but  it  was  for  life 
only,  and  the  King  allowed 
her  a  monthly  pension  of  one 
thousand  louis-d'or.  Every 
year  she  went  to  Bourbon  to 
take  the  waters,  and  there  she 
made  marriages  for  the  young- 
girls  of  the  neighbourhood,  to  whom  she  gave  dowries.  She  died  at 
Bourbon  in  1707. 

A  year  after  the  marriage  of  Mademoiselle  de  Nantes  with  the  Due 
de  Chartres,  the  Prince  de  Coudé  died  at  Fontainebleau,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-six,  of  an  illness  aggravated  by  the  exertion  he  made  in  visiting 
the  young  Duchess,  who  had  small-pox.  We  may  judge  by  this  action, 
which  cost  him  his  life,  whether  he  regarded  the  marriage  of  his  grandson 
with  the  daughter  of  the  King  and  Madame  de  Montespan  with  the 
repugnance  that  has  been  imputed  to  him  by  the  lying  newsmongers  with 
whom  Holland  swarmed. 


JEAN  BAPTISTE  DE  COLBERT,   MARQUIS  DE  SEIGNELAY, 
MINISTER  SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
(Portrait  by  Cl.  Lefebvre.— Musée  de  Versailles.) 


138  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

After  the  marriage  of  the  daughter  and  the  total  eclipse  of  the 
mother,  Madame  de  Maintenon  gained  such  ascendency  over  the  now 
scrupulous  King  that  he  married  her  privately,  on  the  22nd  of  October, 
1685,  by  the  advice  of  Père  La  Chaise,  in  a  little  chapel  at  the  far  end 
of  the  apartment  afterwards  occupied  by  the  Duc  de  Bourgogne. 

There  was  no  contract,  no  stipulation.  The  Archbishop  of  Paris, 
Harlay  de  Chanvalon,  married  .  them  ;  the  confessor  was  present  ;  Montchev- 
reuil  and  Bontems,  first  valets  de  chambre,  were  the  witnesses.    Louis  XIV. 


THE  CHÂTEAU  DE  VERSAILLES  IN  1674. 
(South  front,  Orangery  Terrace,  ami  Pièce  d'Eau  des  Suisses.    From  a  print  by  Israel  Silvestre.) 


was  then  in  his  forty-eighth  year,  and  Madame  de  Maintenon  was  in  her  fifty- 
second.  The  King,  famous  and  glorious,  tempered  the  cares  of  government 
with  the  blameless  happiness  of  private  life  ;  his  marriage  did  not  bind 
him  to  anything  unworthy  of  his  rank.  It  was  left  an  open  question  by 
the  Court  whether  Madame  de  Maintenon  was  or  was  not  married;  she  was 
respected  as  the  King's  chosen  companion  without  being  treated  as  Queen. 

Madame  de  Maintenon  was  a  granddaughter  of  Theodore  Agrippa 
d'Aubigné,  gentleman  of  the  bed-chamber  in  ordinary  to  Henri  IV.  His 
father,  Constant  d'Aubigné,  desiring  to  settle  in  the  Carolinas,  had  addressed 
himself  to  the  English,  and  was  imprisoned  for  that  offence  in  the  Château 


THE    D'AUBIGNÉ  FAMILY 


139 


Trompette.  The  daughter  of  Cardillac,  the  Governor — a  gentleman  of 
Bordeaux — contrived  his  escape.  Constant  d'Aubigné  married  his  benefactress 
in  1G27  and  took  her  to  South  Carolina.  On  his  return  to  France  with 
her  some  years  after,  they  were  both  imprisoned  at  Niort  in  Poitou  by  an 
order  of  the  Court.  In  that  prison  Françoise  d'Aubigné,  who  was  destined 
to  experience  all  the  frowns  and  all  the  smiles  of  fortune,  saw  the  light 
in  1035.  She  was  taken  to 
America  in  her  third  year,  and 
back  to  France  in  her  twelfth, 
brought  up  with  excessive 
strictness  by  her  kinswoman, 
Madame  de  Neuillant,  mother 
of  the  Duchesse  de  Navailles, 
and  was  glad  to  marry  Paul 
Scarron  in  1G51.  Scarron  was 
descended  from  an  old  family 
of  the  parliament  class  which 
boasted  distinguished  alliances, 
but  he  made  a  profession  of 
jesting,  and  this  degraded  him 
while  it  made  him  popular. 
He  was  ugly  and  not  par- 
ticularly well  off  ;  neverthe- 
less it  was  very  lucky  for 
Mademoiselle  d'Aubigné  that 
he  married  her.  She  abjured 
Calvinism,  the  religion  of  her 
ancestors,  before  her  marriage. 

Her  beauty  and  wit  were  promptly  recognised.  She  was  sought  by  the 
most  distinguished  members  of  society  in  Paris;  and  this  was  the  happiest 
period  of  her  life.  Scarron  died  in  1660,  and  she  petitioned  the  King, 
through  her  friends  at  Court,  for  the  continuance  of  a  small  pension  of 
fifteen  hundred  livres  which  Scarron  had  enjoyed.  Her  solicitations  were 
made  in  vain  for  a  long  time,  but  at  last  the  King  gave  her  a  pension  of 
two  thousand  livres,  and  said  to  her  :  "  Madame,  I  have  kept  you  waiting 
very  long;  but  you  have  so  many  friends  that  I  wanted  to  have  the  sole 
credit  with  you," 


BALLET  OF  "LA  JEUNESSE,"  1680. 

,1111c  ,,i  the  lasl  danced  in  the  Gardens  of  Versailles.    From  a 
print  in  Che  Hennin  Collection.) 


140 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


This  was  told  me  by  Cardinal  de  Fleury,  who  liked  to  repeat  it, 
because  he  said  that  Louis  XIV.  had  paid  him  the  same  compliment  when 
giving  him  the  bishopric  of  Frejus. 

Nevertheless  it  is  proved  by  letters  from  Madame  de  Maintenon  herself 
that  she  owed  this  small  favour,  which  placed  her  above  absolute  poverty, 


A  LOUIS  XIV.  SALON. 
(From  La  Made  avx  Escrows — au  enigmatical  engraving  on  the  use  of  the  hand-screen.) 


to  Madame  de  Montespan.  Some  years  later  she  was  selected  for  the 
confidential  post  of  "governess"  to  the  Duc  du  Maine. 

The  child  was  born  with  a  deformed  foot,  and  when  he  was  two  years 
old  D'Aquin,  first  physician  to  the  King,  and  in  his  confidence,  recommended 
the  Barege  waters  for  him.    A  trustworthy  person  was  required,  and  the 


A  BALL   "X  LA  FRANÇAISE  "  IN  1682. 
(From  an  Alninnai-  of  the  tilling 


THE    PROMOTION    OF    MADAME  SCARRON 


143 


King  bethought  him  of  Madame  Scarron.  The  Marquis  de  Louvois  made 
a  private  expedition  to  Paris  in  order  to  offer  the  post  to  lier.  From 
that  time  forth  she  had  charge  of  the  Duc  du  Maine,  being  appointed  to 
it  by  the  King,  not,  as  it  has  been  stated,  by  Madame  de  Montespan.  She 
corresponded  with  the  King  directly.  Her  letters  pleased  him  greatly.  This 
was  the  origin  of  her  good  fortune  ;  her  personal  merit  did  all  the  rest. 

The  King,  who  could  not  bear  her  at  first,  passed  from  aversion  to 
confidence,  and  from  confidence  to   love.    Those  letters  of  hers  which  we 


THE  HOY AL  LOTTERY  IN  1679  :   THE  COUKTIKHS  PI.AYIN'i;. 
(Cabinet  of  Prints.) 


have  are  of  great  value.  The  combination  of  religion  and  gallantry, 
dignity  and  weakness,  which  so  often  exists  in  the  human  heart,  is  fully 
revealed  by  them  as  it  existed  in  the  heart  of  Louis  XIV.  Madame  de 
Maintenon  appears  to  have  been  equally  ambitious  and  devout,  free  from 
anv  struggle  between  ambition  and  devotion  in  her  mind  and  conscience. 

J  ■  DO 

In  entire  good  faith  she  called  religion  to  the  aid  of  lier  elderly  attractions 
in  supplanting  her  benefactress,  now  her  rival.  The  strange  relations 
between  the  two — the  contest  of  affection  and  scruple  on  the  part  of  the 
King,  of  ambition  and  piety  of  the  lady — seem  to  have  existed  from  1(581 
to  1G85,  when  their  marriage  took  place. 


144 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Her  elevation  meant  retirement  for  Madame  de  Maintenon.  She  lived 
entirely  in  her  apartment,  which  was  on  the  same  floor  as  the  King's  ;  her 
only  visitors  were  two  or  three  ladies,  who,  like  herself,  had  withdrawn 
from  society,  and  even  these  she  saw  but  seldom.  The  King  came  to  her 
apartment  every  day  after  his  dinner,  before  and  after  the  Court  supper, 
and  remained  until  midnight.  He  received  his  Ministers  and  transacted 
business  with  them  there,  while  Madame  de  Maintenon  either  read  or  worked, 
showing  no  readiness  to  talk  of  affairs  of  State — often  appearing  ignorant 


THE  LARGE  CHAPEL  OF  THE  CHATEAU  DE  VERSAILLES. 

(t'roui  a  print  representing  a  ceremony  of  the  Chevaliers  du  Saint-Esprit,  16S9. — This  chapel  was  in  the  space  now 
occupied  by  the  Salon  d'Hercule,  and  was  abolished  when  Louis  XIV.  built  the  new  church. 
From  a  print  in  the  lleuniu  Collection.) 


of  them  ;  putting  far  from  her  anything  like  intrigue  and  cabal  ;  much  more 
desirous  to  please  him  who  governed  than  to  govern,  and  economising  her 
influence  by  using  it  only  with  extreme  circumspection.  She  did  not  avail 
herself  of  her  position  to  secure  all  the  great  dignities  and  posts  for  her 
own  people.  Her  brother,  the  Comte  d'Aubigné,  a  former  lieutenant- 
general,  was  not  even  a  Marshal  of  France.  The  order  of  the  Saint-Esprit 
and  a  private  share  in  the  revenue  receipts  formed  his  only  wealth.  He  said 
one  day  to  the  Maréchal  de  Vivonne,  brother  of  Madame  de  Montespan,  "  I 
have  had  my  marshal's  bâton  in  ready  money." 


A    NEUTRAL-TINTED  CHARACTER 


145 


LIFE  AT  THE  COURT,   1G94  :  THE  ROYAL  FAMILY  AT  A  CONCERT. 
(Print  by  Trouvait)  in  the  series  of  the  Ainiartements  Royaux.') 


The  lands  of  Maintenon,  which  she  had  purchased  with  the  King's 
gifts,  were  her  sole  possessions.  She  hoped  the  public  would  overlook  her 
elevation  for  the  sake  of  her 
disinterestedness.  The  second 
wife  of  her  cousin  the  Mar- 
quis de  Ville  tte — afterwards 
Countess  of  Bolingbroke — 
never  could  obtain  anything 
from  her.  I  have  frequently 
heard  her  say  that  she  had 
reproached  Madame  de  Main- 
tenon  with  doing  so  little  for 
her  own  family,  and  said  to 
her  angrily,  "  You  want  to 
enjoy  your  moderation,  and 
that  your  family  should  suffer 
for  it."  Madame  de  Maintenon  would  not  do  anything  that  could  rutile 
the  King.  She  did  not  even  venture  to  support  Cardinal  de  Noailles 
against  Père  Le  Tellier.  She  was  very  friendly  to  Racine,  but  her  friendship 
was  not  even  sufficiently  courageous  to  protect  him  against  the  passing  anger 
of  Louis  XIV.  He  had  been  talking  to  her  one  day  of  the  poverty  of  the 
people  in  1098 — poverty  which  was  then  exaggerated,  but  really  did  become 
extreme  afterwards — and  she  induced  her  friend  to  write  a  statement  of  the 
evil  and  the  remedy  lor  it.    The  King  having  read  this  document  and  spoken 

angrily  concerning  it,  Madame 
de  Maintenon  was  so  weak 
as  to  name  the  author,  and 
also  to  refrain  from  defending 
him.  Racine's  weakness  was 
greater  still  :  he  was  so  over- 
whelmed with  grief  that  he 
eventually  died  of  it. 

As  she  was  incapable  of 
serving,  so  she  could  not 
injure  anybody  deliberately. 

LIFE  AT  THE  COURT  :    THE  KINO'S  CHILDREN  AT  THE  ^lie   Abbé    de     CllOisy     tells  US 

GAME  OP  "  TROU-MADAME  "  (PIGEON  HOLES).  .1      .      T  -  1  • 

„  v  „     .\  ;  that  Louvois   went   on  his 

(Print  by  Trouvain.) 


146  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

knees  to  entreat  the  King  not  to  marry  Scarron's  widow.  Madame  de 
Ma intenon  was  informed  of  the  fact  ;  yet  not  only  did  she  pardon  Louvois, 
but  she  would  pacify  the  King  when  the  Minister's  rough  humour  made 
him  angry. 

Louis  XIV.  found  an  agreeable  and  submissive  consort  in  Madame 
de  Maintenon.  One  sole  ostensible  distinction  marked  her  secret  eleva- 
tion ;    it  was  that  at  Mass  she  occupied  one   of  the  two  small  gilded 


THE  BAPTISM  OF  THE  DUC  DE  BOURGOGNE. 
(From  an  engraving  by  Larmessin.) 

galleries  hitherto  reserved  for  the  King  and  Queen  only.  The  piety 
which  she  had  imparted  to  the  King,  and  which  she  had  employed  to  secure 
her  marriage,  by  degrees  became  a  real  and  profound  sentiment,  It  had 
age  and  ennui  to  strengthen  it.  She  had  brought  several  young  ladies 
of  quality  together  to  be  educated  at  Noisy,  and  the  King  handed  over 
the  revenues  of  Saint-Denis  to  the  budding  community.  Saint-Cyr  was 
built  at  the  back  of  the  park  of  Versailles  in  1686.  She  then  regularly 
constituted  that  establishment,  arranged  the  rules  with  Godet  Desmarets, 
Bishop  of  Chartres,  and  herself  acted  as  Lady  Superior  of  the  convent.  She 
frequently  went  there  to  pass  a  few  hours,  and  when  I  say  it  was  ennui 


A  ROOM  IN  THE  CHÂTEAU  DE  FONTAINEBLEAU,  USED  BY  LOUIS  XIV.   AND  MADAME  DE  M  A  INTENON  IN  1(583, 
DECORATED  WITH  THE   ARMS  OF  THE   KINC — THE  SI'N   AND  THE   L.-L.  INTERTWINED. 


INEXORABLE  ENNUI 


149 


that  took  her  there  I  only  repeat  her  own  statement.  She  wrote  as 
follows  to  Madame  de  La  Maisonfort,  who  is  referred  to  later  in  the 
chapter  on  "  Quietism  "  : — 

"  Why  can  I  not  give  you  my  experience  ?  Why  can  I  not  make 
you  see  the  ennui  that  devours  the  great,  and  the  trouble  it  gives  them 
to  fill  up  their  days  ?  Do  you  not  see  that  I  am  dying  of  ennui,  in 
the  midst  of  hardly  imaginable  good  fortune  ?  I  have  been  young  and 
handsome,  I  have  tasted  of  pleasure,  and  I  have  been  loved  every- 
where. At  a  more  mature  age  I  passed  years  in  intellectual  intercourse. 
I  have  come  to  favour,  and  I  protest  to  you,  my  dear  daughter,  that 
all  these  conditions  leave  a 
hideous  void."  If  anything 
could  cure  ambition  it  would 
assuredly  be  that  letter.  And 
yet  Madame  de  Maintenon 
had  no  other  trouble  than  the 
monotony  of  the  life  she  led 
with  a  great  king.  "  I  cannot 
bear  it  any  longer,"  she  said 
to  her  brother  the  Comte 
d'Aubigné.  "  I  wish  I  were 
dead."  His  well-known  answer 
was,  "  Do  you  then  mean  to 
marry  God  the  Father  ?  " 

On  the  King's  death  she  retired  to  Saint-Cyr.  It  was  surprising 
that  the  King  had  secured  hardly  anything  to  her.  He  only  recommended 
her  to  the  good  offices  of  the  Duc  d'Orléans.  She  would  accept  only  a 
pension  of  eighty  thousand  livres,  which  was  punctually  paid  until  her 
death  on  the  15th  of  April,  1719. 

The  Court  became  less  lively  and  more  serious  after  the  King  began 
to  lead  a  more  retired  life  with  Madame  de  Maintenon,  and  after  his  very 
severe  illness  in  1686  he  lost  his  liking  for  the  grand  festivities  which 
had  previously  marked  each  year  of  his  reign.  The  art  of  surgery,  although 
it  made  more  progress  in  France  during  that  reign  than  in  all  the  rest 
of  Europe,  was  not  acquainted  with  fistula,  the  malady  by  which 
the  King  was  assailed.  Cardinal  de  Richelieu  had  died  of  the  same 
disease  for  want  of   proper  treatment.     The  King's  danger  aroused  all 


LIFE  AT  THE  COU  HT  :  THE  KIX(i  S  CHILDKEN  AT  COLLATION. 

(Trint  by  Trouvais  In  the  series  of  the  Appartement»  Royaux.") 


150 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


France.  The  churches  were  crowded  with  people,  who  prayed  for  his 
recovery  with  tears. 

The  King's  first  physician,  Félix,  went  to  all  the  hospitals  to  visit 
patients  who  were  in  the  like  danger;  he  consulted  the  best  surgeons, 
and  in  concert  with  them  he  invented  instruments  which  abridged  the 
necessary  operation  and  rendered  it  less  painful.    The  King  bore  it  without 

a  murmur.  He  transacted  busi- 
ness the  same  day  with  his 
Ministers,  who  came  to  his 
bedside,  and,  lest  the  news 
of  his  danger  should  disturb 
the  European  Courts,  he  gave 
audience  to  the  ambassadors 
on  the  following  day.  He  also 
royally  rewarded  Félix  by  the 
gift  of  an  estate  worth  more 
than  fifty  thousand  crowns. 

After  this  period  the  King 
attended  the  plays  no  more. 
The  Dauphine,  who  had  become 
melancholy  and  was  falling  into 
a  decline  which  proved  fatal 
in  1G90,  withdrew  from  every 
kind  of  entertainment,  and 
secluded  herself  in  her  apart- 
ment. She  loved  learning, 
she  had  even  written  verse  ; 
but  in  her  depression  she  cared 
for  nothing  but  solitude. 
The  revival  of  the  tastes  for  things  intellectual  was  due  to  the 
convent  of  Saint-Cyr.  Madame  de  Maintenon  requested  Eacine,  who  had 
then  renounced  the  stage  for  Jansenism  and  the  Court,  to  write  a  tragedy 
for  representation  by  her  nieces.  She  wished  for  a  biblical  subject. 
Racine  composed  Esther,  and  the  piece  was  afterwards  acted  several 
times  before  the  King  at  Versailles  in  the  winter  of  1689.  Prelates  and 
Jesuits  hastened  to  obtain  leave  to  witness  this  singular  play.  Esther  had 
a  marked  and  universal  success,  yet  Athalie,  acted  by  the  same  persons 


"DEMOISELLES  DE  SAINT-CYR  "  IN  1686:  PUPILS 
IN  THE  THIRD  CLASS. 

(From  an  engraving  by  Bonnart.) 


RACINE'S    PLAYS    AT  SATNT-CYR 


151 


two  years  later,  had  none.  The  contrary  was  the  case  when  the  two 
pieces  were  produced  in  Paris  after  the  author  was  dead  and  the  day  of 
partiality  was  over.  Athalie,  in  1717,  was  received,  as  it  deserved,  with 
warm  admiration,  and  Est  lier,  in  1721,  with  such  coldness  that  it  was  not 
again  played.  It  is  easy  to  fathom  the  cause  of  this  apparent  caprice  of 
judgment.  The  courtiers  who  had  flattered  Madame  de  Maintenon  by 
recognising  her  in  Esther,  and 
had  gratified  their  malignity  by 
identifying  Madame  de  Monte- 
span  with  Vashti,  M.  de  Louvois 
with  Hainan,  and  the  Huguenots 
with  the  proscribed  Hebrews, 
were  no  more,  and  the  impartial 
public  found  nothing  in  Esther 
to  arouse  their  interest  or  enlist 
their  sympathy. 

These  entertainments  were 
revived  for  the  education  of  the 
young  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne, 
Adelaide  of  Savoy,  who  had 
been  brought  to  France  at  the 
age  of  eleven  years. 

It  is  one  of  the  contra- 
dictions in  our  national  manners 
that,  on  the  one  hand,  a  certain 
disreputability  still  attaches  to 
plays  acted  in  public,  and  on 
the    other    such  performances 

have  ever  been  regarded  as  the  most  fitting  and  noble  recreation  for  royal 
personages.  A  little  theatre  was  now  set  up  in  the  apartment  of  Madame 
de  Maintenon.  The  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne  and  the  Duc  d'Orléans  acted  in 
plays  with  such  persons  of  the  Court  as  had  dramatic  talent.  Baron,  the 
famous  actor,  gave  them  lessons  and  himself  acted  with  them.  Most  of  the 
tragedies  written  by  Duché,  the  King's  valet  de  chambre,  were  composed  for 
this  theatre,  and  the  Abbé  Genest,  chaplain  to  the  Duchesse  d'Orléans, 
composed  plays  for  the  Duchesse  du  Maine,  which  were  performed  by 
the  Princess  and  her  circle. 


"DAME  RELIGIEUSE"  OF  SAINT-CYH. 

(From  a  print  by  Honnart.) 


152 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


The  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne  advanced  rapidly  in  graces  of  person  and 
character.  The  praise  that  was  bestowed  upon  her  sister  in  Spain  inspired 
her  with  emulation  and  quickened  her  desire  to  please.  She  was  not  a 
beauty,  but  in  her  eyes  there  was  a  look  like  her  son's  (Louis  XV.)  ;  she 
had  a  fine  figure  and  the  grand  air.  She  had  good  abilities  and  an  extreme 
desire  to  win  the  approbation  of  all.  She  was,  like  Henrietta  of  England, 
the  idol  and  the  model  of  the  Court,  with  higher  rank  ;  she  stood  near 
the  throne.  France  expected  from  the  Duc  de  Bourgogne  government  such 
as  the  sages  of  antiquity  prescribed,  but  also  that  its  austerity  would  be 
tempered  by  the  graces  of  the  Princess  ;  these  were  more  admired  and  popular 
than  the  philosophy  of  her  husband.    All  the  world  knows  how  grievously 


THE  VILLAGE  WEDDING  :  BALL  AND  MASQUERADE  DANCED  AT  VERSAILLES  BY  THE  GRAND  DAUPHIN 

AND  THE  COURTIERS  IN  1683. 
(From  a  print  of  the  period.) 


those  hopes  were  disappointed.  It  was  the  fate  of  Louis  XIV.  to  lose 
all  the  members  of  his  family  in  France  by  premature  deaths  :  his  wife 
at  forty-five  ;  his  only  son  at  fifty,  and  a  year  after  the  death  of  the 
Grand  Dauphin,  the  Dauphin  Duc  de  Bourgogne,  his  wife,  and  their  eldest 
son,  the  Duc  de  Bretagne,  were  laid  in  the  same  tomb  at  Saint-Denis, 
in  April  1712,  while  their  youngest  child,  an-  infant,  was  lying  at  the 
gates  of  death.  The  Duc  de  Berry,  brother  of  the  Duc  de  Bourgogne, 
and  his  infant  daughter,  followed  them  only  two  years  later. 

4 

if 

Of  all  these  grievous  bereavements  the  King  was  most  deeply  afflicted 
by  the  death  of  the  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne.  He  had  been  greatly  pleased 
with  her  when  she  came  to  France,  as  a  little  girl,  in  1696. 


\ 


THE    YOUNG  DAUPHINE 


155 


"  I  led  her,"  he  wrote  to  Madame  de  Maintenon,  "  through  the 
crowd,  letting  her  be  seen  now  and  then  by  having  the  lights  held  close 
to  her  face.  She  wrent  through 
this  march  with  grace  and 
modesty.  At  length  we  reached 
her  room,  where  there  was  a 
crowd  and  heat  fit  to  kill  us. 
I  showed  her  to  those  who 
came  up,  and  observed  her  in 
every  way  so  that  I  might 
tell  you  what  I  think  of  her. 
She  has  the  best  air  and  the 
best  figure  I  have  ever  seen, 
is  beautifully  dressed,  her  hair 
as  well  ;  her  eyes  are  full  of 
life  and  very  fine,  the  lashes 
dark  and  admirable  ;  she  has  a 
very  smooth  complexion,  red 
and  white  as  could  be  wished  ; 
also  a  great  quantity  of  beau- 
tiful fair  hair  ;  she  is  thin,  as 
she  ought  to  be  at  her  age  ; 
her  mouth  is  very  red,  thick 
lips,  teeth  long,  white,  and  very 
irregular,  hands  well  shaped, 
but  of  the  colour  of  her  age. 
She  curtsies  badly,  rather  in 
the  Italian  style,  and  there  is 
something  of  the  Italian  in  her 
face,  but  she  pleases,  and  I 
have  seen  it  in  the  eyes  of 
everybody.  As  for  me,  I  am 
altogether    pleased.  Speaking 


THE  (iKAND   D.M  I'IIIN   AND   HIS  FAMILY. 

(Copy  by  Delutel  (1692)  of  the  picture  by  Mipianl  at  the  Louvre 
Musée  de  Versailles— the  Queen's  Guard-Room.) 


to  you  as  I  do  always,  I  think 

she  is  just  what  is  to  be  wished  ;  I  should  be  sorry  if  she  were  more  beautiful. 
Everything  is  pleasing  except  the  curtsey.  1  will  tell  you  more  about  her 
after  supper.    I  forgot  to  say  that  she  is  short  rather  than  tall  for  her  age." 


156 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


This  early  impression  grew  into  real 
affection  ;   the   little    Duchess  completely 
won  the  King's  heart.     She  spared 
no  pains,  according  to  Saint- Simon, 
to    accomplish    that    victory.  He 
draws  a  charming  picture  of  her. 

"  In  public  she  was  serious,  cir- 
cumspect, respectful,  and  on  timidly 

good  terms  with  Madame  de  Main- 
ts 

tenon,  whom  she  called  6  aunt,'  as  a 
pretty  way  of  blending  rank  and  re- 
gard.    In  private  she  flitted  about 
Madame   de   Maintenon   and    the  Kin 
prattling,  romping,  laughing,  now  perched 
upon  the  arm  of  the  chair  of  one  or  the 


FT  .MA  li  I 


1  tssi 


\T<  I'l  V  UII'A  -   IMI'A  I!  II    T  h  n  H 


LOUIS  XIV.  ALL-POWERFUL  ON  LAND  AND  ON  SKA. 
(From  an  allc^oiHul  print  by  Chevardi.) 


PRINT  IN  HONOUR  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 
(The  virtues  are  the  rays  of  the  king,  "  who 
on  the  earth  is  ralliant  like  the 
sun  in  the  skies.") 

other,  anon  sitting  on  their 
knees,  or  hanging  round  their 
necks.  She  kissed  and  caressed 
them,  rumpled  their  laces, 
chucked  them  under  the  chin, 
teased  them,  rummaged  their 
tables,  their  papers,  and  their 
letters,  reading  the  latter  some- 
times in  spite  of  them,  if 
she  saw  they  were  in  a  good 
humour. 

"  One  evening  at  Fontaine- 
bleau, when  all  the  princesses' 
ladies  were  in  the  same  cabinet 
with  her  and  the  King  after 
supper,  she  had  been  jabbering 
in  all  sorts  of  languages,  and 
playing  a  hundred  childish 
tricks  to  amuse  His  Majesty, 
who  was  highly  pleased,  when 


THE    YOUNG  DAUPHINE 


157 


she  suddenly  observed  that  Madame  la  Duchesse 
and  the  Princesse  de  Conti  looked  significantly 
at  each    other    and    shrugged  their 
shoulders  with  an  air  of  contempt  and 
disdain.    The  King  having  risen  and 
gone  as  usual  into  a  hack  room  to 
feed  his  dogs  before  wishing  the  prin- 
cesses good-night,  the  Dauphine  took 
hold       Madame  de  Saint-Simon  with 
one  hand  and  Madame  de  Levi  with 
the   other,    and   indicating    the  two 
ladies  who  were  only  a  few  steps  oh", 
by  a  nod,  she  said  :  'Did  you  see,  did 
you  sec  ?    I  know  that  there  was  no  common- 
sense  in  anything  1  said  or  did,  and  that  it 

THK  GRAND  DAUPHIN.  J  ° 

(Medallion  ftom  the  uttie  figure  in  wax  belonging   is  odious.     But  he  must  have  a  stir  about 

him,  and  these  things  amuse  him.'' 


t.i  Han ii i  Jérôme  l'klmn.) 


It  was  then  with  intent  that 
she  taught  Louis  XIV.  the  art 
and   the   happiness  of    being  a 
grandfather.      The   lesson  was 
wonderfully    successful.  "The 
Kinff  could  not  do  without  her. 
Everything  was  amiss  with  him 
when  the  pleasure  parties  which, 
in  his  tenderness  and  considera- 
tion for  her,  he  would  not  allow 
ber    to   forego,   took    her  away 
from  him  ;  and  even  at  his  public 
supper,    on    the    rare  occasions 
when  she  was  not  present,  there 
seemed  to  be  a  cloud  of  gravity 
and    silence    over    the  King. 
"Whatever  taste   she  may  have 
had   for    those  entertainments, 
she  was  very  sparing  of  them, 
and   always   took   care   to  have 


DE  BOURGOGNE  IN  THE  ARMS  OF  HIS  NURSE, 
(From  a  popular  print.) 


158 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


herself  '  commanded.'  She  scrupulously  saw  the  King  on  going  and 
returning,  and  if  a  ball  in  winter  or  a  late  party  in  summer  kept  her  out  at 
night,  she  arranged  matters  so  as  to  be  with  him  so  soon  as  he  was  awake, 
that  she  might  amuse  him  with  a  description  of  the  entertainment. 

"  Judged  by  rule,  she  was  ugly  ;  with  drooping  cheeks,  an  inexpressive 
nose,  too  prominent  a  forehead,  thick  lips,  dark  chestnut  hair  and  eyebrows, 


LOUIS  XIV.  IN  1698,   SURROUNDED  BY  ALL  THE  MEMBERS  OF  HIS  FAMILY. 
(Print  by  Mariette  for  an  Almanac.    "The  glorious  anil  flourishing  state  of  the  family  of  France.") 


the  most  speaking  and  beautiful  eyes  in  the  world,  few  teeth,  and  those 
decayed — herself  the  first  to  talk  and  laugh  about  them — the  most  beautiful 
skin  and  complexion,  the  bust  small  but  admirable,  the  throat  long,  with 
just  a  touch  of  goitre,  which  was  not  unbecoming,  a  gay,  graceful  and 
majestic  carriage  of  the  head,  and  the  same  to  be  said  of  her  look,  a 
most  expressive  smile,  a  long,  rounded,  supple,  perfectly -formed  waist, 
and  a  goddess-mark  [dimple]  in  the  cheeks.  She  was  charming  to  the 
last  degree. 


THE    YOUNG  DATJPHINE 


159 


THE  DUCHESSE  LIE 
BOURGOGNE. 

(Marble  bust  by  Coysevox, 
from  nature. — Musée 
île  Versailles.) 

to  cost  her 


'The  Graces  were  new  born  in  lier  steps,  in  all 
her  ways,  and  in  her  most  ordinary  discourse.  Her 
manner,  always    simple    and   natural,    often  almost 
childish,    but    full    of  intelligence, 
charmed  all   with   ease  that  so    be-  'i". — 
longed  to  her  that  it  communicated 
itself    to    all    who    approached  her, 
.  .  .  gentle,  shy  but  adroit,  and  so 
kind    that    she   shrank  from  <>ivin<>' 
the  least  pain  to  anyone,  and,  with 
all  her  liveliness   and    trifling,  very 
capable  of  sound  views  and  well  con- 
sidered judgments. 
The    irksome  con- 
straint [of  her  life], 
though  she  felt  its 
full  weight,  seemed 
nothing.      It  was 


THE  DUCHESSE  DE 
BOURGOGNE. 
(From  a  gold  medal,  1701.) 


natural  to  her  to  be,  oblisriner  to 
everyone  ;  her  kindness  came 
from  the  heart,  she,  felt  it  even 
for  her  Court. 

"She  desired  to  please  the 
most  useless  and  insignificant  per- 
sons, but  she  never  seemed  to  be 
trying  to  do  so.  (  >ne  was  tempted 
to  believe  that  she  was  entirely  and 
solely  engrossed  by  those  with 
whom  she  was.  Her  vonthful, 
bright,  active  spirits  animated 
everything,  and  her  nymph-like 
lightness  carried  her  about  like 
the  whirlwind  which  fills  leagues 
of  space  all  at  once,  and  gives 
everything  within  them  life  and 
movement.  She  adorned  the 
plays,  was  the  soul  of  the  fêtes, 


THE  DUCHESSE  DE  BOURGOGNE  AS  A  HUNTRESS. 
(Marble  statue  by  Coysevox. — Musée  do  Louvre.) 


160 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


the  pleasure  parties  and  the  balls,  where  the  accuracy  and  perfection  of 
her  dancing  charmed  the  company.  She  liked  card-playing,  was  amused 
even  by  games  played  for  low  stakes,  for  everything  amused  her  ; 
she  preferred  the  high,  however,  and  was  the  most  strict,  exact  and  clever 
player  in  existence,  dealt  the  cards  in  an  instant,  and  was  equally  ready 
and  pleased  to  read  serious  books  aloud  in  the  afternoons,  and  discuss  them 


THE  FASHIONABLE  DOCTOR  IN  HIS  CONSULTING -ROOM. 
(From  an  Almanac  of  the  time.) 


while  she  worked  with  her  '  serious  ladies,'  as  the  elder  ladies  of  the 
palace  were  called.  She  spared  nothing,  not  even  her  health,  she  forgot 
nothing,  not  even  the  smallest  things,  in  order  to  win  Madame  de 
Maintenon,  and  with  her  the  King." 

The  depth  of  the  anguish  caused  by  the  death  of  this  bewitching 
being  to  the  King,  his  family,  and  all  the  Court  may  be  readily  conceived. 
"  With  the  charming  princess  all  joy,  pleasure,  amusement  and  charm  of 
every  sort  vanished.  Thick  darkness  covered  the  face  of  the  Court.  Never 
was  princess  so  regretted,  never  was  one  so  worthy  of  regret."  This  funeral 
oration   by    Saint-Simon    is  equal    to   the   famous   "  Madame  se  meurt  " 


DARK  SUSPICIONS 


161 


of  Bossuet:  "The  involuntary  and  secret  bitterness  of  it  [her  loss]  has 
remained,  with  a  void  that  never  has  been  filled." 

i 

This  period  of  sorrow  left  so  deep  an  impression  on  the  hearts  of  all 
that  even  in  the  minority  of  Louis  XV.  I  have  met  persons  who  could 
not  speak  of  those  deaths  with- 
out shedding  tears.  The  most 
to  be  pitied  among  all  who 
had  to  mourn  them,  was  the 
child  whose  inheritance  of  the 
throne  seemed  very  near. 

The  same  suspicion  that 
had  been  aroused  by  the  death 
of  Madame  and  that  of  Marie- 
Louise,  Queen  of  Spain,  was 
revived  in  full  force.  The 
excessive  grief  of  the  public 
would  have  almost  excused  the 
calumny,  had  it  been  excusable, 
but  there  was  delirious  folly  in 
the  notion  that  so  many  royal 
persons  could  have  perished  by 
a  crime  which  left  the  only  one 
with  power  to  avenge,  them 
alive.  The  malady  that  carried 
off  the  Dauphin  Duc  de  Bour- 
gogne, his  wife  and  his  son,  was 
measles — epidemic  at  the  time, 
people  had  died  of  it  in  Paris. 
Prince  d( 


^/a/totse  d  Or/c(?/i.)  CDuc  à-  Ouir/jc./ili^tS^Ko/i.fa'ur 

/rerc  /ttuytl?  dtl  0ieyetÛ)t&  ?'Or/f,i/i.<^j! Ju/  jail  Qltx/af  ~ 

Ju  WÛpr&parlt  fÀoyJouui  ft'  (f/Ù/i?  le  ï"Jiu/i  i 


ùcr 
68ô\ 


In  less  than  a  month  five  hundred 
The  Duc  de  Bourbon,  grandson   of  the 


le  Condé,  the  Duc  de  La  Tremouille,  Madame  de  la  Vrilli*  i c, 
and  Madame  de  Listenay  were  attacked  with  it  at  the  chateau.  The 
Marquis  de  Gondrin,  son  of  the  Due  d'Antin,  died  of  the  disease  in  two 
days.  All  France  was  stricken  by  the  epidemic.  In  Lorraine  it  carried 
off  the  elder  brother  of  François,  Duc  de  Lorraine,  who  was  destined 
to  be  an  emperor  in  the  future  and  to  restore  the  House  of  Austria. 
Nevertheless  it   was  enough  for  a  doctor  named  Boudin,  an  ignorant  and 


162 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


AN  ALCHEMIST'S  LABORATORY  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(From  a  print  taken  from  Illustres  Provei'bes  by  Lagniet.) 


dissipated  man,  to  say,  "We  understand  nothing  about  such  maladies." 
This  was  enough,  I  say,  to  set  calumny  off  on  an  unchecked  course. 
Philippe,  Duc  d'Orléans,  the 

I 


King's  nephew,  had  a  laboratory, 
and  studied  chemistry,  with 
several  other  arts.  Here  was 
an  indisputable  proof.  The 
public  excitement  was  not  to 
be  believed  except  by  those 
who  witnessed  it,  and  these 
absurd  suspicions  would  have 
been  handed  down  to  posterity 
by  various  writers  and  in  so- 
called  histories  of  Louis  XIV. 
had  not  well-informed  persons  taken  care  to  destroy  them.  I  say  for 
my  sell  that,  having  been  aware  at  all  times  of  the  injustice  of  men,  I 
made  diligent  search  into  the  truth.  This  is  what  I  have  heard  repeatedly 
from  the  Marquis  de  Canillac,  one  of  the  most  honest  men  in  the  kingdom, 

and  in  intimate  relations  with 
the  susjjected  Prince,  of  whom 
he  has  since  great  reason  to 
complain.  The  Marquis  de 
Canillac  went  to  see  him  at 
the  Palais  Royal  in  the  midst 
of  this  public  outcry.  He 
found  him  lying  on  the  floor, 
shedding  tears,  crazy  with  grief. 
His  chemist,  Homberg,  went  to 
the  Bastille  to  give  himself 
up  ;  but  no  order  to  receive 
him  had  been  given,  and  he 
was  refused.  In  the  excess 
of  his  trouble,  the  Prince  him- 
self (who  could  believe  it?) 
demanded  to  be  sent  to  prison. 
He  required  that  his  innocence 
should  be  formally  established, 


GUY  PATIN. 

(A  type  of  the  Paris  doctor.— From  a  print  by  llasson.) 


RUMOUR    ON    THE  WINO 


163 


and  his  mother  [the  Princess  l'a  la  tine]  joined  in  his  demand  for  this  cruel 
justification.  The  lettre  <l<-  cachet  was  despatched,  but  it  was  not  signed, 
and  the  Marquis  de  Canillac  only,  amid  the  perturbation,  retained  sufficient 
coolness  to  realise  the  consequences  of  so  desperate  a  step.  He  induced 
the  mother  of  the  prince  to  oppose  that  ignominious  letter.  The  monarch 
who  granted,  and  his  nephew  who  demanded  it  were  equally  unfortunate. 


Voltaire  does  right  in  defending  the  Duc  d'Orléans  against  these  unjust 
suspicions.  Saint-Simon  also  lias  done  the  same  from  motives  of  friendship 
and  fairness.  lie  writes  as  follows  respecting  the  credit  given  by  the 
public  to  the  accusations  against  the  Duke:  "I  learned  that  what  began  to' 
leak  out  concerning  the  Duke,  the  covert  hints,  the  whispered  secret,  no 
Longer  remained  in  those  conditions.  The  rumour  rapidly  reached  the  Court, 
Paris,  the  provinces,  the  most  remote  corners  of  the  kingdom,  isolated 
monasteries,  the  most  empty  and  sterile  solitudes,  finally,  every  foreign 
country  and  every  European  people. 


CARD  OK  INVITATION  TO  A  FUNERAL  IH  THF, 
SEVENTEENTH  OENTURY. 
(Cabinet  cf  Prints,  Hennin  Collection.) 


ADVERTISEMENT  OF  THE  ALMANAC  FOR  1713. 
(Reproduction  of  Deinortain  the  printseller's  advertisement.    Hennin  Collection,  Bibliothèque  Nationale.) 


WISDOM  TRIUMPHS  OVEB  DESTINY, 
i.  I " i< .1 1 1  a  ciniiiifisilii.ii  inn!  r-u^ra \  iiiK  liy  IIpkiip-ssoii.) 


IV. 

THE    DECLINE   OF  THE  REIGN: 
THE    KING'S    OLD    AGE    AND  DEATH. 

T  OUIS  XIV.  concealed  his  grief  in  public  ;  he 
'  allowed  himself  to  be  seen  as  usual,  but  in 
private  be  was  overwhelmed  by  affliction,  and 
suffered  from  convulsions.  He  had  to  hear  all 
these  domestic  bereavements  just  after  a  disastrous 
war,  before  peace  was  secure,  and  at  a  time  of  great 
poverty  throughout  his  kingdom,  hut  he  wTas  never 
known  to  sink  under  the  burden  of  his  woes. 

The  rest  of  his  life  was  sad.     The  bad  condition 

(From  n  silver  crown,  with  tin' 

eight  L-i  crown?do  ()f  the  finances,  which  he  could  not  remedy,  alien- 

ated the  people  from  him,  and  bis  confidence  in  Le  Tellier,  the  Jesuit, 
completed  their  estrangement.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  public, 
who  forgave  him  his  mistresses,  never  forgave  him  his  confessor.  In 
the  three  closing  years  of  his  life  he  lost  in  the  estimation  of  the  greater 
number  of  his  subjects  all  that  he  had  won  during  the  great  and  memorable 
years  of  his  reign. 


166  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

He  had  lost  almost  all  his  children,  and  his  attachment  to  his 
legitimatised  sons,  the  Duc  du  Maine  and  the  Comte  de  Toulouse,  led 
him  to  declare  them  and  their  descendants  heirs  to  the  crown,  in  default 
of  the  princes  of  the  blood,  by  an  edict  which  was  registered  without 
any  remonstrance  in  1714.  He  thus  tempered  the  severity  of  the  conven- 
tional laws,  which  deprive  children  born  out  of  wedlock  of  the  right  to 


(From  the  satirical  Dutch  caricature,  "Tel  homme,  tel  discours."    La  Fin  des  Roii  orgueilleux.) 


paternal  inheritance,  by  the  natural  law.  Kings  can  dispense  from  the 
former,  and  the  King  believed  he  could  do  for  his  own  blood  the  same 
that  he  had  done  for  several  of  his  subjects.  Above  all,  he  believed  he 
could  effect  a  settlement  for  two  of  his  children,  such  as  the  Parliament  had 
passed  without  opposition  in  the  case  of  the  princes  of  Lorraine.  After- 
wards, in  1715,  he  raised  the  rank  of  his  natural  sons  to  equality  with  that 
of  the  princes  of  the  blood.     The  suit  instituted  against  the  legitimatised 


BA  KEFACE1)  TIME-SERVERS 


167 


princes  is  well  known.  The 
latter  were  confirmed  for  them- 
selves and  their  children  in  the 
honours  conferred  upon  them 
by  Louis  XIV.  The  destiny 
that  awaits  their  posterity  will 
depend  on  time,  merit  and 
fortune. 

About  the  middle  of  the 
month  of  August,  L715,  Louis 
XIV.  was  attacked,  on  his 
return  from  Marly,  by  the 
malady  that  proved  fatal.  J  lis 
ind  gangrene 


legs  swelled 

su  ne r  v  ened, 


The  English 


LOUIS  XIV.   IN  OLD  AGK. 

(I-'roni  tlie  wax  medallion  by  Benoist,  in  the  King's  chamber, 
Chateau  <Ie  Versailles.) 


pei   — 

Ambassador,  the  Ear]  of  Stair, 
made  a  bet  that  the  King  would 
not  outlive  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember. The  Duc  d'Orléans, 
who  had  been  absolutely  for- 
saken during  the  Marlv  roi/iKjc,  was  immediately  surrounded  by  .-ill  the 
courtiers.     Then,  during,  the   King's  last   days  a  quack  doctor  gave  him 

an  elixir  which  restored  his 
strength  for  the  time.  The 
patient  was  able  to  eat,  and 
the  quack  asserted  positively 
that  he  would  recover.  That 
moment  the  crowd  about  the 
1  )uc  d'Orléans  melted  away. 
"If  the  King  eats  a  second 
time,"  said  the  Duke,  "  we 
shall  no  longer  have  anybody.  ' 
But  the  malady  was  mortal. 
Measures  were  taken  for  giving 
the  absolute  regency  to  the  Due 
d'Orléans.    The  King  had  left 

THE   EDUCATION   OF  THE  (HII.I)l(EN   OF  FHANCE.  •11/1  1 

it  to  lnm  DV  his  will  (deposited 

(Aquatint  engraving.— Cabinet  "f  Prints.)  J  1 


168 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


with  the  Parliament),  to  a  very  limited  extent,  or  rather  he  had  simply 
constituted  him  head  of  a  council  of  regency,  in  which  he  would  have 
had  only  the  casting  vote.  And  yet  he  said  to  the  Duke,  "  I  have  secured 
to  you  all  the  rights  which  your  birth  gives  you."  The  fact  was  he  did 
not  believe  there  existed  a  fundamental  law  which  would  give  unlimited 
power  during  a  minority  to  the  heir-presumptive  of  the  kingdom.  He 
imagined  that  having  been  implicitly  obeyed  in  his  lifetime  so  he  should 
be  after  his  death,  and  he  did  not  remember  that  the  will  of  his  own 
father  had  been  broken. 


EXCESSES  COMMITTED  BY  THE  FRENCH  IN  THE  PALATINATE. 
(Satirical  Dutch  print  on  the  Evils  of  War.) 


(1st  September,  1715.)  The  grand  composure  with  which  the  King- 
awaited  the  approach  of  death  is  known  to  all.  He  said  to  Madame  de 
Maintenon,  "  I  had  thought  it  was  more  difficult  to  die,"  and  to  his  servants, 
"  Why  do  you  weep  ?  Did  you  think  I  was  immortal  ?  "  And  he  gave  his 
orders  about  many  things,  including  his  funeral,  quite  tranquilly. 

His  courage  on  this  supreme  occasion  was  free  from  the  ostentation 
that  had  characterised  Louis  XIV.  all  his  life  long,  and  it  extended 
even  to  an  acknowledgment  of  his  faults.  His  successor  faithfully  pre- 
served in  writing,  and  placed  at  the  head  of  his  bed,  the  remarkable  words 
which  the  dying  monarch  addressed  to  him,  holding  him  in  his  arms. 
Those  words  have  not  been  correctly  reported  in  the  histories  ;  they  are 
faithfully  set  down  here  : — 


LOUIS  XV.  AS  A  CHILD. 
(From  tbe  portrait  liy  H.  Rigaud,  Musée  de  Versailles.) 


THE    DYTNG    KING'S  COUNSEL 


171 


LACE  COVERLET  OF  THE  BED  OF  LOUIS  XIV.,  STILL 
IX  ITS  PLACE. 
(Château  ilc  Versailles.) 


"  You  will  shortly  be  king  of 
a  great  kingdom.  What  I  most 
strongly  urge  upon  you  is  never 
to  forget  your  obligations  to 
God.  Remember  that  to  Him 
you  owe  all  that  you  are. 
Try  to  keep  peace  with  your 
neighbours.  1  have  been  too 
fond  of  war;  do  not  imitate 
me  in  that,  or  in  the  too 
great  spending  of  money.  Take 
counsel  in  all  things,  and  seek 
to  learn  the  better  way  that 
you  may  always  follow  it.  Relieve  your  people  as  soon  as  you  can.  and 
do  what  I  have  had  the  misfortune  to  be  unable  to  do  myself." 

This  admonition  does  not  bear  out  the  imputation  of  narrow-minded- 
ness that  is  cast  by  several 
writers  upon  the  memory  of 
Louis  XIV. 

Although  the  King  had 
been  truly  great  both  in  his 
life  and  death,  he  was  not 
regretted  as  he  deserved  to  be. 
The  love  of  novelty,  the  ap- 
proach of  a  period  of  minority, 
in  which  each  one  foresaw  a 
fortune,  the  quarrel  of  the 
Constitution,  with  the  enmities 
created  by  it,  all  combined  to 
cause  the  news  of  his  death 
to  be  received  with  indifference. 
The  same  people  who  had  prayed 
with  tears  for  the  recovery  of 
their  King  in  1680,  followed 
his  funeral  procession  with  far 
other  demonstrations.  It  is 
related    that    the    Queen,  his 


DUTCH  CARICATURE:   LOUIS  XIV.  DYING  IN  THE  ARMS  OF 
PRIESTS  AND  WOMEN. 
(Cabinet  of  Prints.) 


172 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


mother,  said  to  him  one  day,  in  his  early  youth,  "  My  son,  be  like  your 
grandfather,  and  not  your  father."  The  King  asked  why,  and  she  replied, 
"  Because  at  the  death  of  Henri  IV.  people  cried,  but  at  the  death  of 
Louis  XIII.  they  laughed." 

Although  he  has  been  reproached  with  some  mean  actions,  with  harshness 
in  his  zeal  against  Jansenism,  with  haughty  treatment  of  foreigners  when 
successful,  with  his  many  love  affairs,  his  extreme  severity  in  personal 
matters,  with  wars  that,  nevertheless,  were  lawfully  undertaken,  with  the 


LOUIS  XIV.  LYING  IN  STATE. 
(From  a  popular  print  of  1715.) 

burning  of  the  Palatinate  and  the  persecution  of  the  reformed  sects,  his 
great  qualities  and  his  actions  weigh  more  heavily  than  his  faults,  when 
finally  placed  in  the  balance.  Time,  which  ripens  the  judgments  of  men, 
has  set  the  seal  to  his  reputation,  and,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been 
written  against  him,  his  name  will  never  be  spoken  without  respect,  and 
will  be  always  associated  with  an  ever-memorable  century.  If  we  regard 
this  prince  in  private  life  we  find  him  too  full  of  his  own  greatness,  it 
is  true,  but  affable,  giving  his  mother  no  share  in  the  government,  but 


WHAT    THE    KING    DID    NOT  SAY 


173 


fulfilling  all  the  duties  of  a  son  towards  her, 
observing  all  the  externals  of  propriety  in  his 
behaviour  to  his  wife  ;  a  good  father,  a  good 
master,  diligent  in  his  Cabinet,  exact  in  affairs, 
thinking  justly,  speaking  well  and  kindly,  with 
dignity. 

Louis  XIV.  never  uttered  the  words 
that  have  been  put  into  his  mouth  when 
the  First  Gentleman  of  the  Bed-chamber 
and  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Wardrobe 
were  c< mtestin <_>'  the  honour  of  waiting  on 
him  :  "  What  does  it  matter  which  of  my 
valets  serves  me  ?  "    So  coarse  a  speech 


Icy  est  le  CokbT de  Louis  -i* par 

LA.  GRACE  DE  DlEufvOY  DeFrANCE 

et  de  Navarre  très  Chrestien; 
decede'  en^on  Chasteatt  de 
Versailles  lefremïek jour  de 
»Septembrjei7I5'- 

R.EQJjfE.5  CAT       ÏN  ÏACJE 


FAC-SIMILE  OK  THE  MEMORIAL  TABLET  OF 
LOUIS  XIV.  AT  SAINT-DENIS. 


could  not  have  come  from  the  lips  of  so 
polite  and  attentive  a  man  as  lie,  and  is  incompatible  with  the  (juestion 
he  put  one  day  to  the  Duc  de  La  Rochefoucauld  on  the  subject  of  his 
debts:  "Why  do  you  not  speak  to  your  friends?"  A  very  different 
saying  indeed,  and  worth  much  had  it  stood  alone,  but  it  was  accompanied 
by  a  gift  of  lil'tv  thousand  crowns. 

It  is  not  true  either  that  he  wrote  to  the  Duc  de  La  Rochefoucauld  : 
"  I  congratulate  you,  as  your  friend,  upon  the  post  of  Grand  Master  of 

the  Wardrobe, 
which  I  give  you 
as  your  King." 
The  praise  of 
this  letter  by 
some  historians 
shows  that  they 
have  failed  to 
perceive  the  want 
of  delicacy,  nay, 
more,  the  rude- 
ness, of  remind- 
ing one  whose 
master  one  is  of 
that  mastery. 

FUNERAL  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  AT  SAINT-DENIS. 

(From  au  engraving  of  the  period.)  R()Se,  his  Cabinet 


174 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Secretary,  wrote  that  letter,  and  the  King  had  the  good  taste  to  prevent  its 
being  sent.  That  same  good  taste  made  him  suppress  the  boasting 
inscriptions  composed  by  Charpentier,  of  the  Académie  Française,  for  the 
pictures  by  Lebrun  in  the  gallery  of  Versailles  :  The  Incredible  Passage  of 
the  Bin' ne,  The  Marvellous  Taking  of  Valenciennes,  etc.     The  King  felt  that 

The  Passage  of  the  Rhine,  The 
Taking  of  Valenciennes,  were 
more  eloquent. 

Some  sayings  of  Louis  XIV. 
have  been  collected,  but  they 
do  not  amount  to  much.  It  is 
related  that  when  he  resolved 
to  abolish  Calvinism  in  France 
he  said:  "  My  grandfather  liked 
the  Huguenots,  and  did  not 
fear  them  ;  my  father  did  not 
like  and  did  fear  them  ;  I 
neither  like  them  nor  fear 
them."  Having  given  the  place 
of  First  President  of  the  Par- 
liament of  Paris  to  M.  de 
Lamoionon,  then  Master  of 
Requests  (reporter  of  petitions 
to  the  Council  of  State),  he 
said  to  him  :  "  Had  I  known  a 
better  man  and  a  more  worthy 
subject  I  would  have  chosen 
him."  He  used  almost  the 
same  words  to  the  Cardinal  de 
Noailles  when  he  made  him  Archbishop  of  Paris.  It  is  alleged  that  an 
indiscreet  preacher  pointed  to  him  one  day  at  Versailles,  and  that 
Louis  XIV.  merely  observed  :  "I  like,  father,  to  take  my  share  of  a 
sermon,  but  I  do  not  like  to  be  given  it."  * 

He  always  expressed  himself  elegantly  and  with  precision,  being 
careful  to  speak  as  well  as  to  act  like  a  sovereign  in  public.    When  the 

*  The  phrase  is,  "  Mon  père,  j'aime  bien  à  prendre  ma  part  d'un  sermon,  mais  je  n'aime 
pas  qu'on  me  la  fasse." 


'GALERIE  DES  GLACES      Aï  VERSAILLES,  AS  IT  WAS  AT  THE 
MOST  GLORIOUS  PERIOD  OF  THE  REIGN. 
(From  a  print  by  .Sebastien  Leclerc.) 


ENIGMATIC  l'UINT  TO  THE  PRAISE  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 
(Composition  by  Sebastien  Leclerc,  in  honour  of  the  first  twenty-four  years  of  the  King's  reign.) 


THE    CHARACTER    OF    LOUIS    XIV  177 


BALUSTRADE   IN   CARVED  AND  GILDED  WOOD  IK  FRONT  OF  THE  BED  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 
(Château  île  Versailles.— Tue  King's  beiklmuiber.) 


Duc  d'Anjou  was  leaving  France  to  reign  in  Spain,  the  King  said  to  him, 
to  mark  the  union  which  was  thenceforth  to  exist  between  the  two  nations, 
"  There  are  no  more  Pyrenees." 

His  character  is  most  clearly  to  be  discerned  in  the  following  memo- 
randum, which  is  written  entirely  by  his  own  hand  : — 

"  Kings  arc  frequently  obliged  to  do  tilings  against  their  inclination, 
and  that  are  hurtful  to  their  good  disposition.  They  ought  to  love 
giving  pleasure,  but  it  is  often  needful  that  they  should  chastise,  and  the 
interest  of  the  State  must  come  first.  One  ought  to  force  one's  inclination, 
and  not  put  oneself  in  a  condition  to  incur  self-reproach  in  anything  of 
importance  that  one  might  do  better  ;  but  some  private  interests  have 
prevented  me  from  this,  and 
have  turned  aside  the  views 
I  ought  to  have  taken  for  the 
greatness,  the  good,  and  the 
power  of  the  State.  There  are 
frequently  painful  situations  to 
be  encountered,  delicate  points 
to  be  solved  ;  and  one's  ideas 
are  confused.    So  long  as  that 

.  .  LOUIS  XIV.  IMPRESSES  THE  SEAL. 

is  the  case   one  may   retrain  (From  a[prlnt  by  s>  Lederc0 

2  A 


178 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


from  coming  to  a  determination,  but  so  soon  as  the  mind  is  made  up  upon 
a  matter,  and  that  one  has  seen  the  best  thing  to  do,  that  course  must  be 
pursued.  By  doing  this  I  have  often  succeeded  in  what  I  have  undertaken. 
The  mistakes  I  have  made,  and  which  have  given  me  infinite  pain,  have 
been  due  to  over-complacency  and  to  my  having  yielded  too  carelessly  to 
the  opinions  of  others.  Nothing  is  so  dangerous  as  weakness,  of  whatever 
kind  it  may  be.  To  command  others  one  must  raise  oneself  above  them, 
and  after  having  heard  all  that  comes  from  every  side,  arrive  at  a  decision 
by  one's  own  judgment  with  an  untroubled  mind,  taking  care  neither 
to  command  nor  to  do  anything  that  is  unworthy  of  oneself,  of  the 
character  that  one  bears,  or  of  the  greatness  of  the  State.     Princes  who 

have  good  intentions,  and  have 
gained  a  knowledge  of  affairs, 
whether  by  experience,  or  by 
study  and  great  application, 
have  to  assert  themselves  in 
so  many  different  matters  that 
they  ought  to  be  capable  of 
both  special  care  and  universal 
application.       A    king  must 

(From  a  contemporary  print  published  by  NoJJn.)  guard  against  himself,  mistl'USt 

his  inclination,  and  be  always  on  the  watch  against  his  own  disposition. 
The  business  of  a  king  is  great,  noble  and  gratifying,  when  one  feels 
capable  of  worthily  fulfilling  all  the  obligations  it  involves,  but  it  is  not 
exempt  from  trouble,  fatigue,  and  disquiet.  Uncertainty  is  sometimes 
most  distressing,  and  when  reasonable  time  has  been  passed  in  examining 
a  matter  a  resolution  must  be  taken,  and  the  line  one  believes  to  be  the 
best  followed. 

"  While  keeping  the  State  in  view  one  works  for  oneself  ;  the  good 
of  the  one  makes  the  glory  of  the  other.  When  the  former  is  prosperous, 
exalted,  and  powerful,  he  who  is  the  cause  of  this  may  be  proud,  and  enjoy 
all  that  is  most  agreeable  in  life  more  fully  than  his  subjects  on  his  own 
account  and  theirs.  When  one  has  made  mistakes,  the  fault  should  be 
repaired  as  soon  as  possible,  and  no  consideration,  not  even  that  of  kindness, 
be  allowed  to  prevent  this. 

"In  1671,  a  man  died  who  held  the  position  of  Secretary  of  State, 
having  the  foreign  department.     He  was  a  capable  man,  but  not  without 


AUDIENCE   GIVEN  BY  THE   KING  TO  THE  AMBASSADORS 
FROM  SIAM. 


RIGHT  SIDE  OF  THE  BEDCHAMBER  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  IN  1701. 

(Château  de  Versailles  ) 


THE    KING'S  MISTAKE 


181 


defects.  He  had  not  failed, 
however,  to  fulfil  the  duties  of 
that  very  important  post. 

"  I  gave  some  time  to  con- 
sidering whom  I  should  appoint 
in  his  place,  and  after  I  had 
examined  the  matter  well,  I 
decided  that  a  man  who  had 
served  long  in  the  embassies 
would  be  the  best  to  fill  it. 

"  He  was  then  summoned  to 
me.  My  choice  was  approved 
by  everybody — which  does  not 
always  happen.  I  put  him  in 
possession  of  that  post  on  his 
arrival.  I  knew  him  only  by 
reputation  and  by  the  commis- 
sions I  had  entrusted  to  him, 
and  these  he  had  always 
executed   well  ;   but   the  new 


employment 


which  I 


LOUIS  XIV.  IN  ARMOUR. 
(From  a  portrait  by  lîigaud.--l[usée  de  Versailles.) 


FRENCH  COURTESY. 

(Frr.ntispiere  of  a  book  published 
.uuiler  this  title  in  Germany, 
iu  1658.) 


him  proved  too  great  and  wide-reaching  for  him.  1 
have  not  profited  fully  by  the  advantages  I  might 
have  had,  and  this  through  kindness.  At  last  I 
had  to  order  him  to  retire,  because  nothing  that 
was  done  through  him  was  done  with  the  grandeur 
and  the  force  that  ought  to  attend  the  execution  of 
the  orders  of  a  king  of  France.  If  I  had  decided 
earlier  on  removing  him  I  should  have  avoided 
the  inconveniences  that  have  arisen,  and  been  free 
from  self-reproach  for  complacence  towards  him 
that  may  have  done  the  State  harm.  I  have 
entered  into  this  detail  as  an  example  of  what  \ 
have  previously  said.  " 

This  precious  document,  unknown  until  now, 
is  a  testimony  to  the  King's  uprightness  and 
magnanimity  bequeathed   to   posterity.     We  may 


182  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

even  point  out  that  he  is  too  severe  upon  himself  ;  that  he  was  not  to 
blame  with  regard  to  M.  de  Pomponne,  since  the  services  and  reputation 
of  that  Minister  were  sufficient  reasons  for  selecting  him,  and  the  King's 
decision  had  received  general  approval.  If  he  blames  himself  for  the 
appointment  of  M.  de  Pomponne,  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  serve  in  a 
time  of  great  prosperity,  what  ought  he  not  to  say  about  M.  de  Chamillart, 
whose  ill-fated  ministry  was  so  universally  condemned  ? 


THK  JOY  OK  THE  FRENCH  IN  THE  RESTORATION  OF  PEACE  UNDER  THE  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 

(From  an  Almanac  of  the  time.) 


The  following  forms  a  part  of  the  King's  instructions  to  his  grandson, 
Philip  V.,  on  his  departure  to  assume  the  crown  of  the  Spains.  He 
wrote  them  in  haste,  and  with  negligence  that  allows  more  of  his  mind 
be  seen  than  would  be  revealed  by  a  studied  exhortation.  In  these 
counsels  we  see  the  father  and  the  King  : — 

"  Love  the  Spaniards,  and  all  subjects  attached  to  your  crowns  and 
to  your  person.  Do  not  prefer  those  who  shall  flatter  you  most  ;  but 
esteem  such  as  will  risk  your  displeasure  for  the  sake  of  the  right. 
These  are  your  true  and  real  friends. 


SOUND  ADVICE 


183 


"  Make  your  subjects  happy,  and  with  a  view  to  this  do  not  make 
war  unless  you  are  forced  to  do  so,  and  have  well  considered  and 
weighed  the  reasons  for  it  in  your  Council. 

"  Endeavour  to  put  order  into  your  finances  ;  watch  over  the  Indies 
and  over  your  fleet  ;  study  commerce  :  live  in  close  union  with  France  ; 


THE  DUC  d'aUMALIS  DliCLAKliD  KING  Ol*  SPAIN  BY  LOUIS  XIV 
(,1'roui  an  Almanac  of  1701.) 


there  is  no  such  benefit  to  our  two  powers  as  that  union  which  nothing 
can  resist. 

"  If  you  are  constrained  to  make  war,  put  yourself  at  the  head  of 
your  armies. 

"  Occupy  yourself  with  the  reconstruction  of  your  forces  everywhere, 
and  begin  with  those  in  France. 

"Never  neglect  your  business  for  your  pleasure,  but  set  a  rule  for 
yourself  which  will  give  you  time  for  liberty  and  diversion. 


184  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

"  There  is  no  more  innocent  amusement  than  hunting,  and  a  liking 
for  a  country-house,  provided  that,  you  do  not  spend  too  much  upon  it. 

"  Give  great  heed  to  business  during  its  discussion  ;  listen  attentively 
in  the  first  place,  without  forming  a  decision. 

"  When  you  have  gained  more  knowledge,  remember  that  it  is  for  you 
to  decide  ;  but  whatever  experience  you  may  have,  always  listen  to  all 
the  opinions  and  all  the  arguments  of  your  Council  before  making  up 
your  mind. 

"  Do  all  that  you  possibly  can  to  acquire  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  most  important  people,  so  that  you  may  use  them  at  need. 

"  Endeavour  that  your  viceroys  and  governors  may  always  be 
Spaniards. 

"  Treat  everybody  well  ;  never  say  unpleasant  things  to  anyone  ;  but 
specially  distinguish  persons  of  quality  and  merit. 

"  Let  it  be  seen  that  you  are  grateful  to  the  late  King,  and  to  all 
those  who  were  in  favour  of  your  being  chosen  to  succeed  him. 

"  Place  great  confidence  in  Cardinal  Porto-Carrero,  and  show  him  how 
highly  you  esteem  the  course  he  has  pursued. 

"  I  think  you  ought  to  do  something  considerable  for  the  Ambassador 
who  has  had  the  happiness  to  come  for  you,  and  to  be  the  first  to 
salute  you  in  the  capacity  of  your  subject. 

"  Do  not  forget  Bedmar,  who  possesses  merit,  and  is  capable  of 
serving  you. 

"  Place  complete  reliance  on  the  Due  d'Harcourt  ;  he  is  an  able  man 
and  an  honest  man,  and  will  give  you  counsel  for  your  own  sake  only. 
"  Keep  all  the  French  in  order. 

"  Treat  all  your  servants  well,  but  do  not  treat  them  with  familiarity, 
and  still  less  with  confidence.  Use  their  services  while  they  behave 
well,  but  send  them  away  at  the  least  fault  they  may  commit,  and 
never  support  them  against  the  Spaniards. 

"  Have  no  intercourse  with  the  Queen-Dowager  beyond  that  which  is 
indispensable.  Manage  so  that  she  leaves  Madrid  but  does  not  go  out  of 
Spain.  And  observe  her  conduct  wherever  she  may  be,  and  prevent  her 
from  having  anything  to  do  with  affairs.  Hold  those  who  shall  see  too 
much  of  her  as  suspect. 

"  Continue  to  love  your  kindred.  Remember  the  pain  it  has  given  them 
to  part  with  you.    Preserve  close  relations  with  them  in  great  things  and 


SOUND  ADVICE 


185 


in  small.  Ask  us  for  whatsoever  you  may  require  or  desire  to  have  that 
is  not  in  your  own  house  ;  we  will  do  the  same  with  you. 

"  Never  forget  that  you  are  French,  and  what  may  happen  to  you. 
When  you  shall  have  secured  the  succession  to  Spain  by  children,  visit 
your  kingdoms,  go  to  Naples  and  to  Sicily,  thence  to  Milan,  and  come 
into  Flanders  ;  this  will  give  an  opportunity  of  seeing  us  again.  In  the 
meantime,  visit  Catalonia,  Aragon,  and  other  places.  See  what  can  be 
done  for  Ceuta. 

"  Throw  some  money  to  the  people  when  you  arrive  in  Spain, 
especially  on  entering  Madrid. 

"  Do  not  appear  displeased  at  the  extraordinary-looking  people  you 
will  see.  Do  not  ridicule 
them.  Each  country  has  its 
own  particular  manners,  and 
you  will  soon  be  accustomed  to 
the  things  that  surprise  you  most 
in  the  beginning. 

"  Avoid  as  much  as  you  can 
bestowing  favours  on  those  who 
give  money  in  order  to  obtain 
them.     Give  suitably  and 
liberally,  and  do  not  re- 
ceive presents  unless  they 
are  trifles.    If  occasionally 
you  cannot  avoid  receiv- 
ing presents,  make  more 

considerable  gifts  to  those  who  have  bestowed  them,  after  having  allowed 
a  few  days  to  pass. 

"  Have  a  casket  [safe]  to  hold  your  own  private  belongings,  and  let 
none  but  yourself  have  the  key. 

"  I  conclude  by  a  most  important  part  of  the  advice  that  I  have  to 
give  you.  Do  not  allow  yourself  to  be  governed.  Be  master  ;  never  have 
a  favourite  or  a  prime  minister.  Consult  and  listen  to  your  advisers,  but 
decide  for  yourself.  God,  who  has  made  you  king,  will  give  you  the  wisdom 
that  is  necessary  for  you,  so  long  as  you  shall  have  good  intentions." 

Louis  XIV.  had  more  rectitude  and  dignity  than  ready  wit,  and 
besides,  a  king  is  not  required  to  say  memorable  things,  but  to  do  them. 

2  B 


CABINET  BY  BOULE. 

(Mobilier  National,  Château  île  Fontainebleau. ) 


186 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


He  could  say  pleasant  things,  and  he  had  made  a  habit  of  saying  them. 
Between  him  and  his  courtiers  there  existed  a  continual  exchange  of  all 
the  favours  that  majesty  may  bestow  without  lowering  itself,  and  all  that 
eagerness  to  serve  and  to  please  may  suggest  without  an  appearance  of 
servility.  The  King's  politeness  and  attention  to  women  encouraged  both 
on   the   part   of   the    courtiers,   and   he   never   lost   an    opportunity  of 

saying  those  things  to  men 
which  gratify  self-com- 
placency while  they  excite 
emulation,  and  leave  a  lasting 
remembrance. 

One  day  at  the  public 
supper,  the  Duchesse  de  Bour- 
gogne, then  very  young, 
observed  an  officer  who  was 
remarkably  ugly,  and  audibly 
made  several  jesting  comments 
upon  his  appearance.  '  '  I  consider 
him,  Madame,"  said  the  King, 
speaking  more  loudly  than  she 
had  spoken,  "  one  of  the  hand- 
somest men  in  my  kingdom, 
for  he  is  one  of  the  bravest." 

A  certain  general,  rather 
blunt  of  speech,  and  whose 
temper  had  not  been  improved 
even  by  the  Court  of  Louis 
XIV.,  had  lost  his  arm  in  action,  and  complained  to  the  King,  who  had 
already  recompensed  him,  so  far  as  a  man  can  be  recompensed  for  a 
lost  arm.  "  I  wish  I  had  lost  the  other  also,"  said  he,  "  and  no  longer 
had  to  serve  your  Majesty."  "  I  should  be  very  sorry  if  you  had,  for 
your  sake  and  my  own,"  replied  the  King.  He  so  carefully  avoided 
saying  disagreeable  things — which  are  deadly  darts  in  the  mouth  of  a 
prince — that,  unlike  private  individuals  who  indulge  in  the  cruel  and 
harmful  kind  every  day,  he  did  not  allow  himself  even  the  most  innocent 
and  gentle  sort  of  jesting. 

He  took  pleasure  in  ingenious  things,  impromptus,  and  songs,  and 


AN  OFFICER  WHO  WAS   NOT  A  COURTIER. 
LE  SIECR  JEAN  BART  ( ADMIRAL). 
(From  a  popular  print  by  Bounart.) 


AN  ENTERTAINMENT  IN  PAHIS  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

(Banquet  given  in  Paris  by  the  Duke  of  Alva,  Ambassador  from  Spain,  on  the  birth  of  the  Prince  of  the  Asturias. 
Print  by  the  ehler  Scotln,  from  Desmaretz.) 


LITTLE    WITTICISMS    BY    THE  KING 


189 


sometimes  on  the  instant  he  would  make  little  parodies  like  the  following 
on  popular  airs  : — 

Chez  mon  cadet  de  frère, 
Le  chancelier  Serrant 
N'est  pas  trop  nécessaire  ; 
Et  le  sage  Boifranc 
Est  celui  qui  sait  plaire. 


THK  BALL-ROOM  IN  THE  GARDENS  OF  VERSAILLES,  CONSTRUCTED  IN  1680. 
(Draw n  by  Bondier  from  Nature.) 


He  dismissed  the  Council  on  one  occasion  with  another  : — 

Le  conseil  à  ses  yeux  a  beau  se  présenter, 

Sitôt  qu'il  voit  sa  chienne,  il  quitte  tout  pour  elle  ; 

Rien  ne  peul  l'arrêter 

Quand  la  chasse  l'appelle. 

His  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Rheims  concerning  the  Marquis  de 
Barbesieux,  although  written  in  an  extremely  careless  style,  does  more 
honour  to  his  character  than  the  most  ingenious  ideas  would  have  done 
to  his  wit.     He  had  given  the  post  of  Secretary  of  State  for  War  to  the 


190 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


marquis  ;  it  had  formerly  been  filled  by  the  Marquis  de  Louvois,  his 
father,  and,  having  reason  to  be  displeased  with  the  conduct  of  his  new 
Secretary  of  State,  he  wished  to  correct  but  not  to  mortify  him.  With  this 
purpose  he  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  Rheims  requesting  him  to  warn 
his  nephew.  His  words  are  those  of  a  master  fully  informed  of  everything, 
but  also  those  of  a  father. 

"  I  know,"  he  says,  "  what  I  owe  to  the  memory  of  M.  de  Louvois  ; 
but   if   your   nephew  does  not  alter  his   conduct  I  shall   be  forced  to 

come  to  a  resolution.  I  shall  be  sorry  for  this,  but  it 
must  be  done.  He  has  talents,  but  he  does  not  make 
a  good  use  of  them.  He  too  frequently  gives  suppers 
to  the  princes  instead  of  doing  his  work  ;  he  neglects 
business  for  pleasure  ;  he  keeps  the  officers  waiting  in 
his  ante-room  too  long  ;  he  speaks  to  them  haughtily, 
and  sometimes  harshly." 

So  much  I  can  recall  of  the  letter,  which  I 
have  seen  in  the  original.  It  shows  plainly  that 
Louis  XIV.  was  not  governed  by  his  Ministers,  as 
was  supposed,  and  that  he  knew  how  to  govern 
them. 

He  loved  praise,  and  it  is  desirable  that  a  king 
should  love  praise,  because  he  will  then  endeavour  to 
deserve  it.  But  Louis  XIV.  did  not  always  accept 
praise  when  it  was  overdone.  Our  Academy,  which 
duly  informed  him  of  the  subjects  proposed  for  its 
prizes,  laid  before  him  this  one  :  "Of  all  the  King's 
virtues  which  is  to  be  preferred  ?  "  The  King's  face  flushed,  and  he  refused 
to  sanction  the  subject. 

He  endured  the  prologues  written  by  Quinault  ;  but  that  was  in  the 
noon-day  of  his  glory,  when  the  intoxication  of  the  nation  excused  his  own. 

If  Corneille  had  said  to  one  of  the  courtiers  in  the  presence  of  Cardinal 
de  Richelieu,  "Tell  the  Cardinal  that  I  am  a  better  judge  of  verse  than 
he,"  the  Minister  never  would  have  forgiven  him  ;  Despréaux,  however, 
said  exactly  that  in  a  loud  tone  of  the  King,  wThen  some  verses  wrhich 
His  Majesty  approved  and  he  condemned  were  in  discussion.  "  He  is 
right,"  said  the  King,  "he  is  a  better  judge  than  I."  The  Duc  de 
Vendôme  had  a  follower  named  Villiers,  one  of  those  men  of  pleasure, 


MARBLE  VASE. 
(Gardens  of  Versailles.) 


VILLIERS  VENDÔME 


191 


ht.t  Kjcr.nrw  TiwiMiKixm 


who  pride  themselves  on  impudent  freedom  of  speech.  The  Duke  gave 
this  person  lodging  in  his  apartment.  He  was  commonly  called  Villiers- 
Vendôme.  He  loudly  condemned  the  King's  taste  in  music,  painting, 
architecture,  gardens.  If  the  King  planted  a  shrubbery,  furnished  an 
apartment,  put  up  a  fountain,  Vendôme  pronounced  it  all  wrong  and 
expressed  himself  in  terms  by  no  means  measured.  "  It  is  strange,"  said 
the  King,  "  that  Villiers  has 
chosen  my  house  to  come  to  in 
order  to  ridicule  everything 
that  I  do."  Meeting  him  one 
day  in  the  gardens,  he  pointed 
out  one  of  his  late  improve- 
ments, saying  :  "  This,  then,  has 
not  the  good  fortune  to  please 
you  ?  "  "  No,"  replied  Villiers. 
"  And  yet,"  said  the  King, 
"  there  are  many  people  who 
are  not  so  discontented  with  it.  "' 
"  That  may  be,"  replied  Villiers, 
"  each  to  his  own  mind."  The 
King  answered,  laughing,  "  One 
cannot  please  everybody." 

One  day  Louis  XIV.,  when 
playing  backgammon,  made 
a  doubtful  cast.  It  was  dis- 
puted, and  the  courtiers  kept 
silence.  The  Comte  de  Gram- 
mont  came  in.  "  Judge  between 
us,"  said  the  King.    "  Sire,  you 

are  in  the  wrong,"  said  de  Grammont  "And  how  can  you  tell  that  I  am 
in  the  wrong  when  you  do  not  know  what  the  question  is  "Eh,  sire, 
do  you  not  see  that  if  the  thing  had  been  only  ever  so  little  doubtful, 
all  these  gentlemen  would  have  given  it  in  your  favour  \ 

The  Due  d'Antin  was  remarkable  for  singular  skill,  not  in  saying 
flattering  things,  but  in  doing  them.  The  King,  passing  a  night  at 
Petit-Bourg,  objected  to  a  great  avenue  of  trees  there  because  it  obstructed 
the  view  of  the  river.     The  Due  d'Antin  had  it  cut  down  during  the 


tiii-;  rsruiMii)  chat,    i.oris  xiv.  dkksskd  in  thk 

STRONGHOLDS  HE  HAD  CONQUERED 
(From  a  Dutch  caricature  of  1693.) 


192 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


THE  BIBLIOTHÈQUE  ROYALE  OP  PARIS. 
(Medallion  of  au  Almanac  of  16Ï0.) 


night.  The  King  on  awaking  was  astonished  not  to  see  the  trees  which 
he  had  condemned.  "  It  is  because  your  Majesty  condemned  them  that 
you  no  longer  see  them,"  answered  the  Duke. 

A  second  ingenious  compliment  of  a  similar  kind  is  recorded  of  the 
Due  d'Antin.  Having  observed  that  a  wood 
at  the  end  of  the  Canal  de  Fontainebleau  was 
displeasing  to  the  King,  he  took  the  oppor- 
tunity of  a  Court  promenade,  and,  everything 
being  prepared,  he  contrived  to  get  an  order 
to  cut  down  the  wood  given  to  him.  In  an 
instant  it  had  fallen. 

Louis  XIV.  has  been  accused  of  intolerable 
pride  because  the  base  of  his  statue  on  the 
Place  des  Victoires  is  surrounded  by  slaves 
in  chains.  But  it  was  not  he  who  caused 
either  this  statue  or  that  in  the  Place 
Vendôme  to  be  erected.  The  former  is  the  expression  of  the  gratitude  of 
the  first  Maréchal  de  La  Feuillade  to  his  sovereign.  He  expended  upon 
it  five  hundred  thousand  livres— nearly  a  million  of  our  present  money— 
and  the  city  added  as  much  to  complete  the  regularity  of  the  site.  It 
appears,  therefore,  that  it  is  equally  unjust  to  impute  the  boastfulness  of 

that  statue  to  Louis  XIV.,  and 
to  admit  nothing  better  than 
vanity  and  flattery  as  the 
motives  of  the  Marshal. 

Only  the  four  slaves  were 
censured  ;    but   these  are 
figurative  of  vices  subdued,  as 
well  as  nations  conquered,  of 
the  duel  abolished  and  heresy 
put  down  ;  the  inscriptions  are 
sufficient  proof  of  this.  They 
also  commemorate  the  junction 
of  the  seas,  the  peace  of  Nime- 
guen,  and  symbolize  countries 
rather  than  warlike  exploits. 
Moreover,   it   is   an  ancient 


LODIS  XIV.  AND  THE  COURT   LADIES  GOING  TO  RECEIVE 
THE  HOMAGE  OF  STRASBUHG. 
(Fragment  of  an  Almanac  of  the  time.) 


THE    PRECEDENCE    OF  VERSAILLES 


193 


custom  of  sculptors  to  put  slaves  at  the  feet  of  the  statues  of  kings. 
We  see  them  at  the  feet  of  the  clement  Henri  IV.  and  of  Louis  XIII.  in 
Paris,  at  Leghorn  under  the  statue  of  Ferdinand  de'  Medici,  who  certainly 
did  not  put  fetters  on  any  nation  ;  we  see  them  at  Berlin 
beneath  the  statue  of  an  Elector  who  repulsed  the  Swedes,  but 
made  no  conquest. 

The  neighbours  of  France,  and  the  French  themselves, 
have  most  unjustly  made  Louis  XIV.  responsible  for  this 
custom. 

As  for  the  statue  in  the  Place  Vendôme,  it  was  erected 
by  the  city  of  Paris.    The  Latin  inscriptions  on  the  four  sides 
of  the  base  are  more  gross  in  flattery  than  those  of  the  Place 
des  Victoires.    They  declare   that  Louis  XIV.  never  took  up 
arms  except  against  his  will.    He  most  solemnly  refuted 
this  adulation  on  his  deathbed,  in  words  which  will  be 
remembered  long  after  those  inscriptions — of  which  he 
was  ignorant,  and  which  are  the  base  work  of  certain 
men  of  letters — are  forgotten. 

The  Kino'  had  destined  the  buildings  on  the  Place 
des  Victoires  for  his  public  library,  but  the  misfortunes 
of  1701  obliged  the  city  to  build  private  houses  on  the 
ruins  of  the  palace  that  had  been  begun  and  abandoned. 
Thus  the  Louvre  was  not  finished  ;  the  fountain  and  the  obelisk 
which  Colbert  intended  to  erect  opposite  the  doorway  by  Perrault 
have  appeared  in  the  designs  only  ;  the  tine  doorway  of  Saint- 
Gervais  has  remained  blocked  up,  and  most  of  the  monuments 
of  Paris  are  of  an  inferior  kind. 

The  nation  would  have  wished  Louis  XIV.  to  prefer  his 
Louvre  and  his  capital  to  the  palace,  which  the  Duc  de 
Créqui  called  an  undeserving  favourite.  Posterity  admires  and 
is  grateful  for  those  public  actions  of  his  that  are  really 
great;  but  criticism  comes  in  when  we  consider  the  mixture  of 
the  superb  and  the  faulty  in  the  King's  chateau  at  Versailles. 

The  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  all  this  is  that  Louis  XIV. 
loved  grandeur  and  glory  in  everything.     A  prince  who,  having  done 
such  great  things,  should  also  be  simple  and  modest,  would  be  the  first 
among  kings,  and  Louis  XIV.  the  second. 


HALBERD  NO.  90  OF 
THE  SCOTCH  GUARD 
OF  LOUIS  XIV.,  WITH 
THE  ARMS  OF  THE 
SUN-KING. 

(Collection  of  M.  Charles 
de  Kossigneux.) 


■l  C 


194 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


He  had  two  sons,  younger  than  the  Dauphin,  born  in  wedlock,  and 
three  daughters  ;  all  these  died  in  childhood.  Two  of  his  natural  children 
also  died  in  the  cradle  ;  eight  lived  and  were  legitimated  ;  five  left 
descendants.  He  also  had  a  daughter  who  was  not  acknowledged  ;  she 
was  married  to  a  gentleman  of  Versailles  named  de  La  Queue.  There  was 
a  nun  in  the  Abbaye  de  Moret  who  was  supposed  to  be  his  daughter. 
She  was  extremely  swarthy,  and  otherwise  resembled  him.  The  King 
gave  her  a  dowry  of  twenty  thousand  crowns  on  placing  her  in  the 
convent.  Her  superiors  complained  of  her  pride  on  the  score  of  her 
alleged  royal  birth,  and  Madame  de  Maintenon,  during  a  sojourn  of  the 


THE  COLONNADE  OF  THE  LOUVRE  DURING  ITS  CONSTRUCTION. 
(From  a  print  by  Leclerc.) 


Court  at  Fontainebleau,  went  to  the  convent  and  endeavoured  to  reduce 
the  nun  to  more  befitting  humility  by  disabusing  her  of  the  idea  which 
fed  her  pride.  "  Madame,"  said  the  person  in  question,  "  that  a  lady  of 
your  high  position  takes  the  trouble  to  come  here  expressly  to  tell  me 
that  I  am  not  the  King's  daughter,  convinces  me  that  I  am."  The 
anecdote  is  still  told  at  the  convent  of  Moret. 

A  philosopher  might  treat  all  these  details  with  disdain,  but  here  we 
may  repeat  that  curiosity,  a  weakness  common  to  mankind,  almost  ceases 
to  be  a  weakness  when  its  objects  are  memorable  times  and  men  who 
attract  the  gaze  of  posterity. 


PEINT  COMMEMORATIVE  OF  TIIK  ANNEXATION  OF  FRANCHE-COMTÉ,  1070. 


LOUIS  XIV.  GIVING  ORDERS  TO  HIS  MINISTERS  IN  HIS  CABINET  AT  VERSAILLES. 
{Fiile  et  obtcquio.  Composition  by  Sebastien  I.ederc.) 


I. 

THE  INTERNAL  (H)VERNMENT  OF  FRANCE.  —  JUSTICE. 
COMMERCE.  —  POLICE.  —  LAWS.  —  MILITARY  DISCIPLINE. 

THE    NAVY,  Etc. 


TT  is  due  to  public  men  who  have  done 
good  tilings  for  the  age  in  which  they 
lived  that  we  should  consider  their  starting- 
point  ;  only  thus  can  we  get  a  clear  view  of 
the  changes  wrought  by  them  in  their  country. 
Posterity  owes  them  eternal  gratitude  for  the 
example  they  have  given,  even  when  they  have 
been  surpassed.  Their  only  reward  is  their 
well-earned  fame.  Louis  XIV.  certainly  desired 
to  win  that  fame,  when,  in  the  beginning  of  his 
real  reign,  he  set  about  reforming  his  kingdom, 
refining  his  Court,  and  perfecting  the  Arts. 
Not  only  did  he  make  it  a  rule  to  work  regularly  with  each  of  his 
Ministers,  but  every  man  of  known  character  might  obtain  a  private 
audience  of  him,  and  every  citizen  was  free  to  present  petitions  and 
projects.  The  petitions  were  received  in  the  first  instance  by  a  Master 
of  Requests,  who  returned  them  with  marginal  notes,  to  be  sent 
on  to  the  offices  of  the  Ministers.  The  projects  were  examined  in 
Council,  when  they  were  worth  examining,  and  occasionally  their  authors 


REVERSE  OF  A  MEDAL  OF  1680. 

(Mcilal  for  La  /.eiv'e  des  Matelots,  engraved 
by  Molart.) 


198 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUTS  XIV 


were  permitted  to  discuss  them  with  the  Ministers  in  the  presence  of  the 
King. 

Louis  XIV.  trained  himself  to  the  work  of  government,  and  the 
process  must  have  been  painful,  for  work  was  new  to  him,  and  he  had 
to  resist  the  lures  of  pleasure.  He  wrote  the  first  despatches  to  his 
Ambassadors  ;  the  most  important  letters  were  frequently  written  by  his 
hand,  and  every  letter  written  in  his  name  was  read  to  him. 

Colbert  had  no  sooner  restored  order  in  the  finances  of  the  kingdom 
after  the  fall  of  Fouquet  than  the  King  remitted  three  millions  of  taxes 
and  all  imposts  that  still  remained  due  between  1647  and  1056.  Certain 

burdensome  taxes,  amounting  to 
five  hundred  thousand  crowns 
annually,  were  abolished. 

The  general  hospital  had 
been  established  by  the  efforts 
of  the  first  president,  de  Bel- 
lièvre,  with  the  assistance  of  gifts 
from  the  Duchesse  d'Aiguillon 
and  several  citizens.  The  King 
added  to  it,  and  caused  hospitals 
to  be  built  in  all  the  principal 
cities  of  France. 


THE  KING  GIVING  AUDIENCE  TO  HIS  SUBJECTS. 
(From  a  popular  print  of  1067.) 


The  high  roads,  hitherto 
almost  impassable,  were  no  longer  neglected,  and  by  degrees  became  the 
admiration  of  foreigners,  as  they  now  are  under  Louis  XV.  The  roads  made 
by  the  ancient  Romans  were  more  durable,  but  not  so  spacious  and  fine. 

Commerce,  which  was  but  little  cultivated — indeed  its  great  principles 
were  not  known — chiefly  occupied  the  attention  of  Colbert.  The  English, 
and  still  more  the  Dutch  merchant  marine,  did  almost  all  the  carrying 
trade  of  France.  The  Dutch  loaded  our  wares  in  our  ports  and  distributed 
them  in  Europe.  The  King  began  from  1662  to  exempt  his  subjects  from 
an  impost  called  "  the  freight  dues,"  which  foreign  vessels  paid,  and  he 
gave  every  facility  to  the  French  for  carrying  their  own  merchandise  at 
less  cost.  Then  the  merchant  marine  came  into  being.  The  Council  of 
Commerce,  which  still  exists,  was  instituted,  and  the  King  presided  at  it 
every  fortnight. 

The  ports  of  Dunkirk  and  Marseilles  were  declared  free,  and  that 


THE    PROGRESS    OF  COMMERCE 


199 


advantage  speedily  attracted  the  trade  of  the  East  to 
Marseilles  and  that  of  the  North  to  Dunkirk. 

The  Compagnie  des  Indes  Occidentales  was  formed 
in  1G64,  and  the  Compagnie  des  Grandes  Indes  within 
the  same  year.  France  had  previously  depended  on 
Dutch  industry  for  its  luxury.  Timid,  ignorant  and 
prejudiced    adherents    to    the    old   economy  protested 

SOCIÉTÉ  DliS  MARCHANDS.  .  1       •  1  •    1         1  •  1 

against  trade  m  winch  there  was  a  continuous  exchange 

(Coin  engraved  by  Mauper  (1664)     °  ° 

rfoSÏÏÏÏS^ùZo*1'"  of  imperishable  money  for  perishable  goods.  They  did 
not  reflect  that  Indian  merchandise,  having  become 
necessary,  would  have  to  be  bought  abroad  at  greater  cost.  The  King 
gave  more  than  six  millions  of  our  present  currency  to  the  company, 
and  invited  wealthy  persons  to  join  it.  The  queens,  the  princes,  and  all 
the  Court  furnished  two  millions  in  the  coin  of  that  period.  The  Superior 
Courts  gave  twelve  hundred  thousand  crowns,  the  incorporated  trades  six 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  livres.    The  whole  nation  seconded  its  ruler. 

Trade  with  the  East  Indies  languished  for  a  time  after  the  Dutch 
took  Pondicherry  in  1G94,  but 
it  revived-  with  fresh  vigour 
under  the  regency  of  the  Due 
d'Orléans.  Pondicherry  then 
became  the  rival  of  Batavia  ; 
and  that  Compagnie  des 
Grandes  Indes,  which  Colbert 
took  such  extreme  pains  to 
found,  revived  in  our  day  by 
the  agency  of  strange  events, 
was  for  some  years  one  of  the 
chief  resources  of  the  kingdom. 
In  1()(')(J  the  King  formed  the 
Compagnie  du  Nord,  and  in  it 
also  he  invested  money. 

The  Compagnie  des  Indes 
Occidentales  received  equal  en- 
couragement; the  King  supplied 

a  tenth  of  the  funds.  S18TKU  0P  CHAKITY  0ARRynra  sdccoob  to  the  wounded. 

That  the  Abbé  de  Choisy  »  print  by  Boimart.) 


200 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


should  have  censured  the  formation  of  these  companies  in  his  Memoirs 
-which  are  not  to  he  trusted — is  not  very  surprising.  We  now  feel 
all  that  Colbert  did  for  the  welfare  of  the  kingdom  ;  hut  it  was  not  felt 
then  ;  he  gave  his  toil  to  the  ungrateful.  There  were  more  bouiyeois  than 
citizens  in  Paris  ;  the  advantage  of  the  public  was  but  little  regarded. 
We  know  how  private  interest  fascinates  the  eye  and  narrows  the  mind, 
not  only  the  interest  of  a  trader,  but  of  a  company  or  of  a  city.  The 

rude  answer  made  to  him  by 
a  merchant  named  Hazon, 
whom  he  had  consulted  :  "  You 
found  the  cart  overturned  on 
one  side,  and  you  have  over- 
turned it  on  the  other,"  was 
still  quoted  with  approbation 
in  my  youth,  and  the  anecdote 
is  recorded  by  Moréri.  It  re- 
quired the  philosophic  spirit  so 
lately  introduced  into  France 
to  procure  justice  for  the 
memory  of  that  great  man. 
He  had  all  the  exactitude  of 
the  Duc  de  Sully  and  much 
broader  views.  After  the  peace 
of  Vervins  Sully  had  nothing 
to  do  but  maintain  strict  and 
severe  economy  ;  but  Colbert 
had  to  find  prompt  and  vast  resources  for  the  wTar  of  1667  and  for  that 
of  1672.  Henri  IV.  seconded  Sully  in  his  economy.  The  magnificence  of 
Louis  XIV.  constantly  traversed  the  plans  of  Colbert.  The  reduction  of 
interest  on  public  or  private  loans  to  five  per  cent,  in  1665  gave  ample 
proof  of  an  abundant  circulation.  He  desired  to  enrich  and  to  people 
France.  Marriages  in  the  rural  districts  were  encouraged  by  exemption 
from  taxes  for  five  years,  and  every  father  of  a  family  who  had  ten 
children  was  exempt  for  life,  because  he  gave  more  to  the  State  by  the 
labour  of  his  children  than  he  could  have  given  by  paying  the  taxes. 
This  rule  ought  to  ha\e  remained  in  force  in  perpetuity. 

From  1663  until   1672  each  year  of  Colbert's  ministry  was  marked 


COMMERCE    AND  COLONIES 


201 


by  the  establishment  of  some  manufacture.  The  fine  cloths  which  formerly 
came  from  England  and  Holland  were  made  at  Abbeville.  The  King 
advanced  two  thousand  livres  for  each  loom  to  the  manufacturer,  besides 
considerable  gratuities.  In  1669,  forty-four  thousand  two  hundred  woollen 
cloth-looms  were  at  work  throughout  the  kingdom.  The  perfected  silk 
manufactures  produced  a  trade 


of  more  than  fifty  millions  of 
that  time,  and  not  only  was  the 
profit  far  above  the  expense  of 
the  necessary  silks,  but  the  cul- 
ture of  mulberry  trees  enabled 
the  makers  to  dispense  with 
foreign  silks  for  the  raw  silk 
of  the  stuff's. 

In  1666  Paris  began  to 
make  mirrors  as  fine  as  those 
of  Venice,  with  which  all 
Europe  had  hitherto  been  sup- 
plied, and  before  long  was 
making  mirrors  such  as  never 
have  been  imitated  anywhere. 
Persian  and  Turkish  carpels 
were  surpassed  at  the  Savon- 
nerie, Flemish  tapestries  yielded 
to  those  of  the  Gobelins. 
Within  the  vast  enclosure  more 
than  eight  hundred  workmen 
were  employed,  three  hundred 
I  icing  lodged  on  the  premises: 
eminent  painters  directed  the  work,  which  was  either  from  their  designs 
or  those  of  the  old  Italian  masters.  Within  the  precinct  of  the  Gobelins 
inlaid  work  also  was  produced — an  admirable  sort  of  mosaic — and  the  art 
of  marquetry  was  brought  to  its  highest  perfection. 

A  second  manufactory  of  tapestry  was  established  at  Beauvais.  The 
first  manufacturer  had  six  hundred  workmen  in  that  town,  and  the  King 
made  him  a  present  of  sixty  thousand  livres. 

Sixteen  hundred  girls  were  employed  in   lace-making  ;   thirty  chief 


THE  FRENCH  TKADEH. 
(From  Leclerc:  Conditions  tie  la  vie  humaine.) 


2  D 


202 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


workers  were  brought  into  France  from  Venice,  and  two  hundred  from 
Flanders,  and  they  were  given  thirty-six  thousand  livres  to  encourage 
them. 

The  manufacture  of  cloth  at  Sedan,  and  carpets  at  Aubusson,  which 
had  fallen  away  in  all  respects,  was  revived.  Eich  stuffs,  in  which  silk 
was  mixed  with  gold  and  silver,  were  made  at  Lyons  and  Tours  by  new 
methods.  We  know  that  the  Ministry  bought  the  secret  of  the  ingenious 
machine  for  making  stockings  ten  times  more  quickly  than  by  the  needle, 


A  FÊTE  AT  THE  GOBELINS  IN  HONOUR  OF  LEBRUN. 
(From  a  print  by  S.  Leclere,  which  represents  the  manufactory  in  1B7C.) 


[knitting]  in  England.  Tin,  steel,  fine  pottery,  and  morocco-dressed  leather 
—work  which  had  always  been  brought  from  abroad — was  now  done  in 
France.  But  certain  Calvinists,  who  had  the  secret  of  tin  and  steel,  took 
it  away  with  them  in  1686,  and  enabled  foreign  nations  to  share  that 
advantage,  as  well  as  many  others. 

Every  year  the  King  made  purchases  of  fancy  articles  of  every  kind 
manufactured  in  his  kingdom,  to  the  value  of  eight  hundred  thousand 
livres,  and  made  presents  of  them. 

The  city  of  Paris  was  very  far  from  being  then  what  it  is  now.  It 


PARTS    BEFORE    THE  LANTERN 


205 


was  unlighted,  insecure,  and  uucleansed.  It  was  necessary  to  provide 
for  the  continual  cleaning  of  the  streets  that  we  have  now,  for  the  five 
thousand  lanterns  which  give  us  light  at  night,  to  pave  the  whole  city, 
to  construct  two  new  quays  and  reconstruct  the  old  ones,  and  to 
institute  a  regular  watch  day  and  night,  both  mounted  and  on  foot,  for 
the  security  of  the  citizens.  The  King  undertook  all  this,  appropriating 
certain  funds  to  the  necessary  expenses.  In  1667  he  appointed  ;i 
Magistrate  of  Police.    Most  of  the  great  cities  of  Europe  did  not  even 


C'OSTTMKS   OF   MUX    AND   WOMKN    OF   THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(From  n  print  of  the  period:  Fashion  triumphant  in  the  Place  du  Change.) 

imitate  these  examples  until  long  afterwards,  and  not  one  has  equalled 
them.     There  is  no  city  paved  like  Paris,  and  even  Home  is  not  lighted. 

So  much  did  everything  tend  to  perfection  that  the  second  person 
who  held  the  office  of  Lieutenant  of  Police  in  Paris  is  numbered  among 
those  who  have  done  honour  to  this  century,  M.  d'Argenson  was  an  able 
man  in  every  way.  He  was  afterwards  in  the  Ministry,  and  would  have 
made  a  good  general.  The  post  of  Lieutenant  of  Police  was  far  beneath 
his  birth  and  his  deserts,  and  yet  he  made  a  much  greater  name  in  it 
than  by  his  brief  and  troublesome  tenure  of  ministerial  office  in  the  last 
years  of  his  life. 

The  King  had  been  building  without  cessation  since   1661,  at  the 


206 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Louvre,  at  Saint-Germain,  and  at  Versailles. 
Private  individuals  followed  his  example,  and 
a  great  number  of  handsome  and  commodious 
houses  were  soon  erected  in  Paris. 

After  some  time  there  were  two  new  towns, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Palais  Eoyal  and 
Saint-Sulpice  respectively,  which  were  very 
superior  to  the  former  Paris.  At  this  period 
that  magnificent  convenience,  coaches  with  glass 
windows  and  hung  upon  wheels,  was  invented, 
so  that  a  citizen  might  move  about  in  the 
great  city  with  more  ease  and  luxury  than 
the  first  Roman  conquerors  when  they  went  in  triumph  to  the  Capitol. 
This  custom,  which  originated  in  Paris,  was  soon  adopted  throughout 
Europe,  and  becoming  common,  ceased  to  be  a  luxury. 

The  taste   of  Louis  XIV. 


COIN  ENGRAVED  BY  MOLART  IN  HONOUR 
OF  THU  AGGRANDISEMENT  OF 
PARIS — 1670. 


THE  CLOCK-MAKER. 
(Print  by  Bonnart:  Clockwork  articles  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.) 


in  architecture,  gardens  and 
sculpture,  was  for  everything  on 
a  grand  and  noble  scale.  So 
soon  as  Colbert,  then  Comp- 
troller-General, got  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Buildings— 
which  properly  belongs  to  the 
Ministry  of  Arts — into  his  hands, 
he  applied  himself  to  fulfilling 
his  sovereign's  wishes.  The 
completion  of  the  Louvre  was 
the  most  pressing  matter,  and 
François  Mansard,  one  of  the 
greatest  architects  France  has 
ever  produced,  was  chosen  to 
construct  the  vast  edifices  that 
were  projected.  He  would  not 
accept  the  responsibility  unless 
he  were  free  to  do  over  again 
anything  that  might  be  defec- 
tive in  the  execution  ;  but  as 


BERNINI 


207 


this  want  of  self-confidence  might   have  involved  too  great  a  cost,  he 
was  not  employed.     The  Cavalière  Bernini,  the  celebrated  creator  of  the 
colonnade  of  Saint-Peter's,  the  statue  of  Constantine,  and  the  fountain 
of  Navone  at  Rome,  was  summoned  from    the   Holy  City.  Equipages 
were  sent  for  his  use,  and  he  was  received  as  one  whose  visit  was  an 
honour  to  France.    In  addition 
to    the   fee    of    five    louis  a 
day  which  he  received  during 
the  eight  months  of  his  stay, 
he   was   presented   with  fifty 
thousand  crowns,  a  pension  of 
two  thousand  crowns  for  him- 
self and  one  of  five  hundred 
crowns  for  his  son.    The  gener- 
osity of  Louis  XIV.  to  Bernini 
was    even    greater   than  that 
of    Francois    I.    to  Raphael. 
Bernini   testified  his  gratitude 
by   the    equestrian   statue  of 
the    King    which    is     to  be 
seen    at    Versailles.      On  his 
arrival  at  Paris,  as  the  only 
man    worthy     to     work  for 
Louis  XIV.,  he  was  surprised 
on  beholding'  the  design  for  the 
facade  of  the  Louvre,  on  the 
Saint-Germain  l'Auxerrois  side. 
This  work  when  completed  took 
rank  among  the  world's  august  examples  of  architecture.    Claude  Perrault 
designed,  and  Louis  Levau  and  Dorbay  built  this  facade  ;   Perrault  also 
invented  machines  for  the  transport  of  the  stones,  fifty-two  feet  long, 
which  form  the  pediment.     No  palace  in  Rome  has  an  entrance  to  be 
compared  to  that  of  the  Louvre — which  Boileau  has  ventured  to  ridicule. 
Bernini  received  magnificent  rewards,  and  did  not  deserve  them  ;  he  only 
furnished  designs  which  were  not  executed. 

While  the  building  of  the  Louvre  was  in  progress — its  completion  is 
much  to  be  desired  —  a  town   at  Versailles  was   springing  up,  in  close 


THE   MlltltOU-.MAKl  It. 

(Print  by  Bonnart.   The  costnme  is  made  of  glasses, 
lust ics,  etc.) 


208 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


proximity  to  that  palace  which  had  cost  so  many  millions  ;  Trianon  and 
Marly  were  built,  and  many  other  edifices  were  embellished  ;    the  King 

also  had  the  Observatory  erected. 
The  building  was  begun  in  1G66, 
when  the  Kino;  established  the 
Academy  of  Sciences.  But  the 
Canal  of  Languedoc,  by  which 
two  seas  are  united,  and  which 
falls  into  the  harbour  of  Cette, 
constructed  to  receive  its  waters, 
surpasses  the  other  works  in 
utility,  greatness,  and  difficulty  of 
achievement.  Begun  in  1664, 
this  work  was  carried  on  without 
interruption  until  1681.  The 
superb  Hôtel  des  Invalides,  with 
its  chapel  (the  finest  of  its  kind 
in  Paris),  and  the  establishment 
of  Saint-Cyr — the  last  of  so  many 
works  of  his — would  alone  suffice 
to  render  the  memory  of  this 
monarch  "  blessed."     Four  thou- 


AN  OLD  STREET  IN  PARIS  :    LA  RUE  AUX  OURS  IN  THE 
SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(From  an  engraving  ljy  Lepautre,  1661.) 


sand  soldiers  and  a  great  number 
of  officers  who  find  relief  for 
their  wounds  and  their  needs,  and 
consolation  for  their  old  age  in  one  of  these  noble  asylums  ;  the  two 
hundred  and  fifty  girls  of  quality  who  receive  an  education  worthy  of 
them  in  the  other,  are  so  many  harmonious  voices  lifted  up  in  praise  of 
Louis  XIV.  The  establishment  of  Saint-Cyr  will  be  surpassed  in  extent 
by  the  institution  which  Louis  XV.  has  just  founded  for  the  education 


THE    KING    REFORMS    THE  LAWS 


211 


of  five  hundred  young  gentlemen,  yet  far  from  eclipsing  Saint-Cyr,  it  will 
ouly  serve  to  make  us  remember  it  :  it  affords  evidence  that  the  art  of 
doing  good  is  being  brought  to  perfection. 

At  the  same  time  Louis  XIV.  desired  to  do  things  greater  and  more 
generally  useful,  but  more  difficult  of  execution  ;  he  wished  to  reform  the 
laws.  In  this  task  he  enlisted 
the  Chancellor,  Séguier,  La- 
moignon,  Talon  and  Bignon,  and 
especially  Pussort,  the  Councillor 
of  State,  and  occasionally  at- 
tended their  conferences.  The 
year  1667  was  the  epoch  at  once 
of  his  victories  and  of  his  first 
laws.  The  civil  law  appeared 
first,  afterwards  the  code  of 
rivers  and  forests  ;  then  statutes 
for  all  manufactures.  Criminal 
and  maritime  laws  succeeded 
each  other  almost  from  year  to 
year.  There  was  even  a  new 
jurisprudence  in  favour  of  slaves 
in  the  Colonies — beings  who 
hitherto  had  not  enjoyed  the 
rights  of  humanity. 

A  profound  acquaintance 
with  jurisprudence  is  not  ex- 
pected from  a  sovereign  ;  but 
the  King  was  well  instructed  in 
the  chief  laws,  he  understood 

their  spirit,  and  knew  where  to  sustain  or  mitigate  them  fittingly.  He 
frequently  judged  the  causes  of  his  subjects  in  person,  not  only  in  the  Council 
of  the  Secretaries  of  State,  but  in  that  which  is  known  as  the  Council 
of  Parties.    In  two  celebrated  instances  he  decided  against  himself. 

The  first  was  a  suit  in  1680,  between  him  and  some  private  individuals 
in  Paris,  who  built  upon  his  ground.  He  decided  that  the  houses  should 
remain  to  them  with  the  ground  belonging  to  him,  and  which  he  gave  up 
to  them. 


ALLEGORICAL   PRINT   BY    M  ELL  AN   IN    HONOUR   OF  THE 
PUBLICATION  OF  THE  CODE  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 


212 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


PARIS  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(View  of  the  Tout  Neuf,  by  Israel  Silvestre.) 


The  other  case,  in  1687,  concerned  a  Persian  named  Roupli,  whose 
merchandise  had  been  seized  by  a  clerk  in  the  administration  of  farmers- 
general.    The  King  decided  that  all  the  property  must  be  restored  to  him, 


LA  SAMARITAINE. 

(.Paris  at  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  paved  streets,  coaches  in  circulation.    From  a  print  of  1712.) 


and  added  a  present  of  three  thousand  crowns.  Roupli  returned  to  his 
country  full  of  admiration  and  gratitude.  When  we  afterwards  saw 
Mehemet  Rizabeg,  the  Persian  Ambassador,  we  found  that  he  had  long 
since  been  acquainted  with  this  fact  by  the  voice  of  fame. 

The  abolition  of  duelling  was  one  of  the  greatest  services  which  he 


THE    KING    FORBIDS  DUELS 


213 


rendered  to  the  country.  In  former  times  duelling  had  been  authorised  by 
sovereigns,  by  the  parliaments,  and  even  by  the  Church,  and  although 
it  had  been  forbidden  by  the  law  since  the  time  of  Henri  IV.,  duels  had 
become  more  frequent  than  ever.  The  notorious  encounter  of  La 
Frette,  of  four  against  four,  in  1663,  determined  Louis  XIV.  no  longer 
to  pardon  the  practice.  His  beneficent  severity  by  degrees  corrected  our 
nation,  and  even  influenced  the  neighbouring  nations,  so  that  they  too 


FENCING. 
(From  a  print  "f  the  time.) 


conformed  to  our  wise,  after  following  our  evil,  customs.  At  the  present 
time  there  are  a  hundred  times  fewer  duels  fought  than  in  the  days  of 
Louis  XIII. 

The  legislator  for  his  people  was  likewise  the  legislator  for  his  army. 
It  is  strange  that  before  his  time  uniform  dress  for  the  troops  was 
unknown.  In  the  first  year  of  his  administration  he  gave  orders  that 
every  regiment  should  be  distinguished  by  the  colour  of  its  clothing,  or 
by  different  marks — a  regulation  promptly  adopted  by  all  the  nations. 
He  instituted  brigadiers,  placed  the  corps  which  form  His  Majesty's 
military  household  on  their  present  footing,  and  formed  a   company  of 


214 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


DUELS  ABOLISHED. 

(Medallion  by  Desjardins. — Musée 
du  Louvre.) 


musketeers  of  the  Guards  of  Cardinal  Mazarin. 
He  fixed  the  number  of  the  two  companies  at 
five  hundred  men,  and  prescribed  the  uniform 
which  they  still  wear. 

Under  him,  there  were  no  more  constables,  and 
after  the  death  of  the  Due  d'Epernon  there  were 
no  more  colonel-generals  of  infantry  ;  the  latter 
were  too  much  of  the  master,  and  that  he  wished 
and  meant  to  be.  The  Maréchal  de  Grammont, 
who  was  merely  commander  of  the  French  Guards 
under  Colonel-General  the  Due  d'Epernon,  taking 
his  orders  from  him,  now  took   them  directly 

from  the  King,  and  was  the  first  to  be  called  Colonel  of  the  Guards. 
The  King  himself  installed  these  colonels  at  the  head  of  the  regiment, 
giving  them  with  his  own  hand  a  gilded  gorget  with  a  pike,  and  afterwards, 
when  the   use  of  pikes  was  abolished,  a  spontoon.     He  instituted  the 

grenadiers,  at  first  to  the  number  of  four  to 
a  company,  in  the  King's  regiment,  created 
by  him;  afterwards  he  formed  a  company 
of  grenadiers  in  each  regiment  of  infantry  ; 
he  gave  two  to  the  French  Guards  ; 
there  is  now  one  company  to  each 
battalion  of  infantry.  He  largely 
augmented  the  corps  of  dragoons  and 
gave  them  a  colonel-general.  The 
establishment  of  breeding-studs,  in 
1667,  should  not  be  forgotten. 
These  had  been  absolutely  given  up, 
but  now  proved  to  be  a  most 
useful  resource  for  remounting  the 
cavalry.  This  resource  has  been  too 
much  neglected  since. 

The  use  of  the  bayonet  at  the 
end  of  the  gun  was  likewise  instituted  by 
him.     Previously   the  bayonet  had  indeed 
a  duel  in  the  seventeenth  century.       been   occasionally  employed,   but  only  by 
(Armourer's jtra.ie  ig^Dwign  by  a  few  companies.     There  was  no  uniform 


THE    KING    REFORMS    THE  ARMY 


215 


custom,  and  no  drill,  everything  having  been  left  to  the  discretion  of  the 
General.  Pikes  were  held  to  be  the  most  formidable  of  weapons.  The  first 
regiment  which  had  been  provided  with  bayonets  and  instructed  in  the  use 
of  them  was  the  regiment  of  Fusileers,  formed  in  1671. 

The  system  by  which  the  artillery  is  still  served  is  also  due  to  him. 
He  established  schools,  first  at  Douai,  and  subsequently  at  Metz  and 
Strasbourg,  and  the  regiment  of  artillery  at  last  possessed  officers  almost 
all  of  whom  were  capable  of  conducting  a  siege.  All  the  magazines  in  the 
kingdom    were    stocked,    and  eight   hundred  thousandweights  of  powder 


MUSKETEER  USING  HIS  GRENADIER  THROWING  MUSKETEER  FIXING 

POWDER-FLASK.  GRENADE.  BAYONET. 

(From  the  "Military  Theory,"  in  colour,  by  Manesson,  published  in  1715  ami  preserved 
in  the  Versailles  Library.) 

were  distributed  annually.  He  formed  a  regiment  of  bombardiers  and  one 
of  hussars  :  previously  hussars  were  unknown,  except  among  the  enemy's 
forces. 

In  1G88  the  King  established  thirty  regiments  of  militia,  provided 
and  equipped  by  the  communities.  This  militia  learned  the  art  of  war 
without  relinquishing  the  culture  of  the  soil. 

Companies  of  cadets  were  maintained  at  most  of  the  frontier  forts, 
where  they  were  taught  mathematics,  drawing  and  drill,  and  practised  the 
functions  of  soldiers.  That  institution  however  lasted  ten  years  only  ; 
but  the  corps  of  engineers  which  the  King  formed  still  exists,  and  still 
follows  the  rules  laid  down  by  him.    Under  him  the  art  of  fortification  was 


216 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


perfected  by  Vauban  and  his  pupils,  who  surpassed  the  Comte  de  Pagan. 
He  built  or  repaired  one  hundred  and  fifty  fortified  places. 

For  the  maintenance  of  military  discipline  the  King  created 
inspectors-general  and  afterwards  directors,  who  rendered  an  account  of  the 
state  of  the  troops  ;  and  it  was  seen  by  their  report  whether  the  commis- 
saries had  done  their  duty. 


STUDIES  OF  HORSEMEN. 
(From  a  design  by  Van  (1er  Meulen,  preserved  at  the  Gobelins.) 


He  instituted  the  Order  of  Saint-Louis,  an  award  of  honour  often 
more  highly  prized  than  a  fortune.  The  foundation  by  the  King  of 
the  Hôtel  des  Invalides  was  the  best  proof  among  a  great  number  that 
he  deserved  to  be  well  served. 

From  the  year  1672  he  had  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
regular  troops,  and  as  he  increased  his  forces  in  proportion  to  the  increase 
of  his  enemies  in  number  and  strength,  he  ultimately  had  four  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  men  under  arms,  including  the  troops  serving  at 
sea  (marines)  in  the  navy. 


OBJECT-LESSONS    IN  WAR 


217 


No  such  armies  had  previously  existed.  His  enemies  opposed  him  in 
almost  equal  strength,  hut  their  forces  were  united.  He  showed  what 
France  could  do  unaided,  and  always  with  either  great  success  or  great 
resources. 

He  was  the  first  who,  in  time  of  peace,  presented  pictures  of  war  and 
provided  lessons  in  the  art.  In  1G98  he  collected  seventy  thousand  men 
at  Compiègne.  All  the  operations  of  a  campaign  were  performed.  This 
was  done  for  the  instruction 
of  his  three  grandsons.  The 
military  schooling  was  combined 
with  a  sumptuous  fête. 

4 

This  eulogium  by  Voltaire 
on   the    military  organisation 
created   by    Louis   XIV.  and 
Louvois,  is  confirmed  by  testi- 
mony  which    is   beyond  sus- 
picion.   Spanheim,  the  Prussian 
Envoy,  who  was  interested  in 
the  condition  of  the  forces  of 
France  in  1G90 — the  moment 
when    the    two   powers  were 
about  to  enter  into  conflict — 
attributes  their  superiority  in 
the  first  place  to  "  the  number 
and    quality   of   good  officers 
and  of  good  generals  in  France, 
which    is    the   result   of  the 
training  in  arms  received  by  the  nobles  and  other  French  youth  so  soon 
as  they  are  capable  of  it.     To  this  also  has  contributed  the  great  care 
that  has  been  taken  throughout  the  present  reign  of  several  establish- 
ments and  regulations  which  are  expressly  intended  for  apprenticeship  in 
times  of  peace  to   the  exercise  of  the  military  art,  the  maintenance  of 
discipline,  and   the  almost  continual  employment  of  the  troops,  whereby 
idleness,  debauchery,   and  remissness  in  duty   are   averted.     It   is  not 
necessary  to  give  details  here  of   those   regulations  introduced  for  the 


PIKKMAN  AT  DRILL. 
CFlom  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc  in  Les  conditions  de  la  vie  humaine.) 


training  or  exercise  of  the  officers  and  men  which  have  been  made  public, 
and  are,  besides,  known  abroad,  and  which  their  neighbours  or  others  have 
tried  to  imitate  and  to  introduce  in  their  armies." 

Spanheim  continues  :  "  Suffice  it  to  say  that  there  is  no  garrison 
in  France  in  which  the  school  of  military  art  is  not  conducted 
with  great  care  and  exactitude,  or  where  there  are  not  officers 
specially  charged  with  it.  With  this  view,  ten  or  twelve  years  ago 
the  companies  of  cadets  were  established.  The  cadets  are  young 
gentlemen  educated  at  the  institution,  and  brought  up  to  all  the 
military  exercises,  so  that  it  forms  a  sort 
of  nursery-garden  for  young  officers. 

"To  this  we  may  add  frequent 
reviews,  sometimes  private,  when  limited 
to  the  troops  of  the  King's  household,  at 
other  times  more  general,  as  on  the  -occa- 
sion of  the  King's  journey  in  1G83,  when 
he  reviewed  twelve  thousand  cavalry  in  the 
district  of  the  Saône,  a  few  miles  from 
Dijon,  and  another  near  the  Saar,  when 
there  were  twenty-two  thousand  men.  I 
saw  both  reviews,  having  been  ordered  to 
accompany  the  King." 

To  this  favourable  report  of  the  strength 
and  discipline  of  the  French  army  Spanheim 


THE    KING    GIVING    ORDERS    FOR  THE 
FORTIFICATION  OF  THE  FRONTIERS. 


(From  a  print  of  1680.) 


TRAINING    SCHOOLS    FOR  SOLDIERS 


219 


adds  .still  better-deserved  com- 
pliments on  the  administrative 
services  organised  by  Louvois. 

"  The  good  and  great  forces 
of  France  are  explained  by 
the  order  that  is  taken  in 
France  for  the  maintenance 
and  subsistence  of  the  troops  ; 
by  the  regularity  of  all  pay- 


ments,   although  these 


are 


MEDALLION  :  ESTABLISHMENT  OK  CADET  COMPANIES. 
(Design  by  Bcraln. — June  22,  IGH2.) 


small  enough;  by  the  building  of  magazines;  by  the  supply  of  victuals 
and  ammunition-bread  ;  also  that  of  provisions  for  the  sick  and  wounded  ; 
and  finally  by  the  distribution  of  forage.  All  these  services  arc  specially 
discharged  by  various  officers,  army   intendants,    commissaries,  treasurers. 


FRENCH  ARTILLERY  IN  ACTION. 
(I'kiu  a  print  by  S.  Leclerc:  Les  Guerres  de  Louis  XIV. — February  28,  1G74.) 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


220 


collectors  and  paymasters,  who  are  responsible  to  the  Minister  of  War, 
M.  de  Louvois,  a  man  not  likely  to   overlook  shortcomings.     It  should 


STUDIES  OF  HORSEMEN. 
(From  a  drawing  by  Van  cle  Meulen,  preserved  at  tlie  Gobelins.) 


be  added  that  similar  care  is  taken  in  the  transport  of  the  artillery,  with 
all  its  requirements." 


LAND  FORCES 


221 


It  is  well  to  recall  this  eulogium,  which  justifies  the  opinion  of  Voltaire, 
so  that  we  may  not  admit  the  very  different  conclusions  reached  by 
Saint-Simon  in  his  indictment  of  Louvois  and  the  military  administration 
of  Louis  XIV.    A  few  of  the  charges  may  be  appropriately  quoted  here  : — 

"  Louvois  succeeded  in  making  all  our  nobility  and  aristocracy 
plebeian,  the  necessity  of  the  military  service  affording  him  the  means  for 
this.  On  the  pretext  that  knowledge 
must  come  before  command,  an 
apprenticeship  was  introduced  into  the 
Guards  under  the  name  of  cadetship. 
But  instruction  was  only  the  pretext, 
the  reality  was  the  confusing  of  persons 
born  to  command,  with  those  who  were 
born  to  obey  them,  and  very  often  born 
to  serve  them. 

"The  highest  nobles  found  them- 
selves confounded  with  soldiers  of 
fortune,  and,  what  was  still  worse, 
with  persons  of  little  or  no  standing, 
who,  by  alliances  with  Ministers  or 
other  causes  of  favour,  were  made 
colonels  immediately  ;  and  nevertheless 
they  had  to  serve,  or  to  fall  into  dis- 
grace and  persecution  which  extended 
to  all — even  the  entire  family.  Such 
was  the  complaint  of  the  nobility.  .  .  . 

"  Louvois  represented  to  the  King 
that  distinctions  disheartened  persons 
inferior  in  condition  but  much  superior 
in  military  capacity  ;  that  perfect  equality  was  a  necessary  condition  for 
warfare,  and  proposed  what  was  known  thenceforth  as  '  L'Ordre  du  Tableau,' 
that  is  to  say,  that  advancement  should  be  regulated  otherwise  than  by 
promotion  only  in  very  singular  and  rare  cases.  This  proposition,  which 
completed  the  confusion  that  the  King  had  proposed  to  himself,  charmed 
him,  and  at  the  same  time  destroyed  emulation,  application,  and  desire 
for  instruction;  these  were  thenceforth  regarded  as  a  foolish  taking  of 
useless  trouble.    So  much  was  this  the  case  that  the  officers  merely  went 


222 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


through  their  exact  service,  and  spent  the  rest  of  their  time  in  idleness 
and  pleasure. 

"  The  more  troops  there  were  the  more  regiments  and  colonels.  The 
colonels  commanded  their  own  regiments,  regulated  all  details,  and 
it  was  on  their  report  that  the  officers  of  the  regiments  were  chosen  and 
promoted.    Each  answered  for  his  own  regiment,  and  it  was  to  their  honour 


A  PICTURE  OF  MILITARY  LIFE. 
(French  Camp  in  tbe  Seventeenth  Century,  by  S.  Leclerc:  Les  Guerres  de  Louis  AVI*. — 1GT-'.) 


that  those  regiments  were  well-composed  and  of  good  appearance.  That 
authority  could  no  longer  be  allowed  by  Louvois.  He  appointed  inspectors 
to  whom  he  gave  all  the  authority  that  had  belonged  to  the  colonels, 
who  became  nothing  in  their  regiments,  and  were  by  a  necessary  consequence 
little  regarded  and  respected.  It  was  necessary  that  the  King  should  have 
an  intimate  and  detailed  knowledge  of  his  troops.  Inspectors  of  this  kind, 
who  saw  the  regiments  only  once  or  twice  in  the  year,  and  each  of  whom 


LOUIS  XIV.,  PAINTED  HV  CHAULES  LEBRUN. 
(In  the  Queen's  Antechamber.— Musée  de  Versailles.) 


SAINT-SIMON    ON  LOUVOIS 


225 


saw  several  regiments,  hardly  ever  the  same  for  two  years,  because  of  the 
change  of  quarters  and  garrisons,  could  not  know  them  as  the  colonels  did. 
They  were  always  new  to  the  different  corps,  and  each  successor  almost 
always  undid  what  his  predecessor  had  prescribed.  Thus  the  troops  no 
longer  knew  how  they  stood." 

Saint-Simon  is  not  more  indulgent  to  the  reviews  organised  for 
Louis  XIV.  by  his  Minister  of  War.  He  says:  "And  that  superb 
magnificence   of  the  camp  at  Compiegne,   so    ruinous    to    the  numerous 


FRENCH  PIKEMEN  ATTACKING  A  FORTRESS. 
(From  a  print  by  S.  Loderc  :  Les  Guerres  de  Lau.it  XIV. — Siege  of  Toumay.) 


troops  who  composed  it,  and  had  to  display  an  opulence  hardly  credible  at 
the  end  of  a  general  and  costly  war  of  ten  years'  duration,  was  a  vain 
demonstration  which  served  only  to  redouble  the  jealousy  of  Europe,  and 
to  furnish  plausible  reasons  to  those  who  are  envious  against  France  and 
the  King  personally." 

The  reason  for  such  evident  prejudice  against  everything  that  was 
done  by  Louvois,  and  approved  by  Louis  XIV.  is  easily  to  be  found  in 
the  enmity  of  the  duke  and  peer  who  interprets  the  resentment  of  the 
nobility  towards  the  "bourgeois"  minister  by  whom  they  were  forced  into 

2  G 


226  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

obedience,  regularity,  and  submission  to  control.  Voltaire  had  quite 
opposite  motives  for  applauding  this  collaboration  of  the  "  bourgeoisie  " 
with  royalty  which  was  so  fertile  in  results,  as  we  must  acknowledge 
with  him.    The  organisation  of  the  navy  also  received  his  approval. 


FRENCH  FLEET  IN  BATTLE  ARRAY. 
(From  a  priut  by  S.  Leclerc  :  Les  Guerres  de  Louis  XIV, — Battle  of  Agouste,  16T6.) 


Louis  XIV.  had  given  the  same  attention  to  the  formation  of 
numerous  and  well-disciplined  land-forces,  even  before  he  went  to  war, 
that  he  had  devoted  to  acquiring  the  sovereignty  of  the  sea. 

In  the  first  place  the  few  vessels  that  Cardinal  Mazarin  had  left  to 
rot  in  the  ports  were  put  into  repair,  and  ships  were  purchased  in  Holland 
and  Sweden.  In  the  third  year  of  his  own  government  the  King  sent 
his  naval  forces  to  Gigeri,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  to  try  their  strength. 


CHANGES    MADE    BY  LOUVOTS 


227 


From  1665  the  Duc,  de  Beaufort  had  been  chasing  pirates  off  the  seas, 
and  two  years  later  France  had  sixty  warships  in  her  ports. 

This  was  only  a  beginning  ;  hut  while  making  new  regulations  and 
efforts  the  King  was  fully  conscious  of  his  strength.  He  would  not  con- 
sent that  his  ships  should  lower  their  flag  before  that  of  England.  In 
vain  did  the  council  of  Charles  II.  insist  upon  this  right  which  strength, 
industry  (the  carrying  trade)  and  time  had  given  to  the  English  nation. 
Louis  XIV.  wrote  to  the  Comte 
d'Estrades,  his  ambassador: 
"  The  King  of  England  and  his 
Chancellor  may  see  what  my 
strength  is,  but  they  do  not 
see  my  heart.  To  me,  all  is 
nothing  compared  with  honour." 

He  said  only  what  he  was 
resolved  to  maintain,  and  in 
fact  the  usurpation  of  the 
English  gave  way  to  the  firm- 
ness and  natural  right  of  Louis 
XIV.  All  was  equal  between 
the  two  nations  upon  the  sea. 
But  while  he  desired  equality 
with  England  he  would  have 
his  superiority  with  Spain  main- 
tained. The  flag  of  the  Spanish 
admirals  had  always  to  be  lowered 
before  his  own  in  virtue  of  the 
precedence  settled  in  1GG2. 

Meanwhile  the  formation  of  a  fleet  that  should  justify  these  haughty 
claims  was  proceeding  rapidly.  The  town  and  port  of  Rochefort  were  built 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Charente  ;  sailors  were  enlisted  and  engaged  to  serve 
both  on  merchant  vessels  and  in  the  royal  fleet.  Within  a  short  period 
there  were  nearly  sixty  thousand  registered  seamen. 

"Councils  of  construction"  were  established  in  the  ports  to  give  the 
new  ships  the  best  form.  Five  naval  arsenals  were  built  at  Brest, 
Rochefort,  Toulon,  Dunkirk,  and  Havre  de  Grâce.  In  the  year  L672  the 
fleet  numbered  sixty  ships  of  the  line  and  forty  frigates.     In  1681  there 


PORTRAIT  OF  ADMIRAL  DE  RTJYTEE. 
(By  Michel  Mousyu,  from  engraving  in  National  Library.) 


228 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


were  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  warships,  including  lighters,  and  in  the 
harbour  of  Toulon  thirty  galleys,  either  armed  or  ready  for  their  arms. 
Eleven  thousand  regular  troops  served  on  the  vessels,  and  three  thousand 
in  the  galleys.  One  hundred  and  sixty-six  thousand  men  were  registered 
for  all  the  various  naval  services.  In  succeeding  years  one  thousand 
gentlemen,  or  youths  of  good  family,  served  as  soldiers  on  board  the  ships, 
and  received  instruction  at  the  various  ports  in  navigation  and  seaman- 
ship ;  these  were  the  midshipmen  or  naval  cadets,  corresponding  to  the 
cadets  on  shore.  This  corps,  which  had  been  instituted  on  a  limited  scale 
in  1672,  became  a  school  which  turned  out  the  best  naval  officers. 


THE  PARIS  ARSENAL  IN  1684. 
(From  a  print  by  P.  P.  Sevin.) 


There  had  been  as  yet  no  Marshals  of  France  in  the  navy  :  the  fact 
is  a  proof  of  how  much  this  essential  part  of  the  forces  of  France  had 
been  neglected.  Jean  d'Estrées  was  the  first  Marshal  in  1 G  8 1 .  One  of 
the  chief  objects  of  Louis  XIV.  was  to  arouse  the  spirit  of  emulation 
without  which  everything  is  dull  and  lifeless. 

In  all  their  naval  battles  the  French  fleets  had  been  victorious  until 
that  of  La  Hogue,  in  1692.  On  that  day  the  Comte  de  Tourville,  under 
orders  from  the  Court,  attacked  a  fleet  of  ninety  Dutch  and  English 
vessels  with  forty-four.  He  was  forced  to  yield  to  numbers,  with  a  loss  of 
forty  first-class  ships,  which  ran  aground  and  were  burnt  to  prevent  them 
from  falling  into  the  enemy's  hands.  In  spite  of  this  disaster  the  naval 
forces  were  well  kept  up,  but  they  declined  during  the  War  of  Succession, 
and  Cardinal  de  Fleury  neglected  them  when  peace  afforded  a  propitious 
opportunity  for  their  restoration. 


THE  COLONIES 


231 


These  naval  forces  protected  commerce  efficiently.  Martinique,  Saint- 
Domingo  and  Canada,  which  had  been  declining,  became  prosperous  to  an 
unhoped-for  extent  ;  for  those  colonies  had  been  a  charge  upon  the  kingdom 
from  1635  to  1665. 

In  1664,  the  King  sent  a  colony  to  Cayenne,  and  shortly  afterwards 
another  to  Madagascar.  He  tried  every  means  of  repairing  the  unfortunate 
error  of  France  in  her  neglect  of  the  sea,  while  her  neighbours  had  been 
forming  empires  at  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

This  brief  retrospect  will  serve  to  indicate  the  changes  which 
Louis  XIV.  effected  in  the  State  ;  useful  changes,  for  they  are  abiding.  His 


FRANCK  REJOICING  AT  THE  RESTORATION  OP  PEACE. 
(From  a  contemporary  Almanac.) 


ministers  seconded  him  ably.  No  doubt  all  the  detail,  all  the  execution  was 
their  doing,  but  the  general  arrangement  was  the  King's  own.  We  may  be 
sure  the  magistrates  would  not  have  reformed  laws,  order  would  not  have 
been  restored  to  finance,  discipline  would  not  have  been  introduced  into 
the  army,  or  police  established  throughout  the  kingdom  :  there  would 
have  been  no  fleets,  the  arts  would  not  have  been  encouraged,  and  all 
in  concert  and  simultaneously,  had  not  a  master  been  there  who  enter- 
tained these  great  purposes  with  a  firm  resolution  to  realise  them. 

Louis  XIV.  did  not  separate  his  own  glory  from  the  interests  of 
France,  or  regard  his  kingdom  as  a  seigneur  regards  his  land,  with  a 
view  to  getting  all  he  can  out  of  it,  so  that  he  may  live  for  pleasure 
only.  Every  king  who  loves  glory  loves  also  the  public  welfare.  Colbert 
and  Louvois  were  no  longer  with  him  when,  about  1(598,  he  directed  that 
each  intendant  should  furnish  a  detailed  description  of  his  province  for 


232  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

the  instruction  of  the  Duc  de  Bourgogne.  By  this  means  an  exact 
account  of  the  kingdom  and  a  true  estimate  of  the  population  were  to  be 
obtained.  The  measure  was  very  useful,  although  all  the  intendants  had 
not  the  capacity  and  exactitude  of  M.  de  Lamoignon,  of  Bâville.  Had 
the  king's  instructions  been  carried  out  in  every  province  as  they  were 
by  that  magistrate  at  his  census-taking  in  Languedoc,  the  collected 
records  would  have  been  one  of  the  finest  monuments  of  the  century. 
Some  of  the  documents  were  ably  drawn  up,  but  the  intendants  did  not 
Work  on  a  uniform  plan.  It  would  have  been  well  had  the  reports  been 
made  in  columns,  stating  the  number  of  inhabitants  at  each  place  of 
record — nobles,  citizens,  farmers,  artizans,  labourers  and  women-servants, 


"MY  MASTER  SEES  EVERYTHING." 
(Words  addressed  by  Lionne  to  a  foreign  ambassador,  1669.  '  Engraving  i  by  Lepautre.) 


also  giving  a  list  of  all  the  clergy,  regular  and  secular,  with  their  revenues, 
and  those  of  the  towns  and  communities.  To  these  details  an  enumeration  of 
cattle  of  all  kinds,  and  of  good  and  inferior  lands,  should  have  been  added. 

These  details  are  jumbled  together  in  most  of  the  Reports,  treated 
slightly  and  without  exactness  ;  information  is  to  be  got  at  only  by 
a  troublesome  search,  instead  of  being  ready  to  the  Minister's  hand,  so 
that  at  a  glance  he  might  learn  the  condition  of  everything  within  his 
department.  The  project  was  excellent,  and  a  uniform  execution  would 
have  secured  its  utility. 

This  is  then  the  sum  of  what  Louis  XIV.  did,  and  attempted,  to 
make  his  country  more  prosperous.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  cannot  con- 
template all  these  deeds  and  all  these  efforts  without  some  gratitude,  and 


THE    KING'S    PREFERENCE    FOR    VERSAILLES  233 

without  sharing  that  care  for  the  commonweal  which  inspired  them.  Let 
us  picture  to  ourselves  what  the  kingdom  was  in  the  time  of  the  Fronde, 
and  what  that  kingdom  is  now.  Louis  XIV.  did  more  good  to  his  country 
than  twenty  of  his  predecessors  put  together  ;  and  he  was  far  from  doing 
what  he  might  have  done.  The  war  that  was  ended  by  the  peace  of 
Ryswick  began  the  ruin  of  the  great  commerce  that  had  been  established 
by  Colbert,  and  the  War  of  Succession  completed  it. 


law:  from  a  satirical  print. 
(Cabinet  of  Prints.— Bibliothèque  Nationale.) 


If  he  had  expended  on  the  adornment  of  Paris,  on  the  completion 
of  the  Louvre,  the  immense  sums  that  were  lavished  on  the  Maintenon 
aqueducts  and  works — works  that  were  interrupted  and  are  now  useless  to 
convey  water  to  Versailles — if  he  had  allotted  to  Paris  itself  a  fifth  part  of 
the  sum  it  cost  to  force  nature  at  Versailles,  Paris  would  have  been  as 
beautiful  through  all  its  extent  as  it  is  around  the  Tuileries  and  the  Pont 
Royal,  and  would  have  become  the  most  magnificent  city  in  the  world. 

It  is  a  great  thing  to  have  reformed  the  laws,  but  justice  has  been 

2  H 


234 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


unable  to  put  clown  roguery.  It  was  sought  to  make  jurisprudence 
uniform,  and  so  it  is  in  criminal  and  commercial  matters,  and  in  procedure  ; 
it  mio;ht  be  so  in  the  laws  that  rule  the  fortunes  of  citizens.  It  is  a  dis- 
advantage  that  the  same  tribunal  should  have  to  pass  judgment  on  more 
than  a  hundred  different  customs.  Land  taxes,  either  doubtful,  onerous  or 
injurious  to  society,  still  subsist  as  remnants  of  the  feudal  system  which  no 
longer  exists  ;  these  taxes  are  the  rubbish  of  a  Gothic  ruin. 

Not  that  the  different  orders  of  the  State  ought  to  be  subject  to  the 
same  law.  It  is  understood  that  the  customs  of  the  nobility,  the  clergy,  the 
magistrates  and  the  husbandmen  must  be  different  ;  but  it  is  unquestion- 
ably desirable  that  the  law  for  each  order  should  be  uniform  throughout 
the  kingdom  ;  so  that  justice  and  equity  in  Champagne  shall  not  be 
unjust  and  inequitable  in  Normandy.  Uniformity  in  every  branch  of  the 
administration  is  a  virtue,  but  the  difficulties  of  that  great  work  have 
produced  discouragement. 

The  expedient  of  revenue  -  farming,  which  the  anticipation  of  his 
resources  induced  the  king  to  adopt,  will  be  more  appropriately  treated 
in  the  chapter  on  Finance. 

If  he  had  not  believed  that  an  act  of  his  will  was  sufficient  to  make 
a  million  of  men  change  their  religion,  France  would  not  have  lost  so 
many  citizens.  Yet  notwithstanding  its  troubles  and  losses,  France  is  still 
one  of  the  most  flourishing  countries  in  the  world,  because  all  the  good 
that  Louis  XIV.  accomplished  remains,  and  the  evil,  which  it  was  difficult 
not  to  do  in  stormy  times,  has  been  repaired.  Posterity,  which  judges 
kings,  who  ought  to  have  its  judgment  always  before  their  eyes,  will 
acknowledge,  in  taking  account  of  the  virtues  and  the  weaknesses  of 
Louis  XIV.,  that,  although  he  was  over-praised  during  his  life,  he  really 
deserved  to  be  praised  for  ever,  and  that  he  was  worthy  of  the  statue 
erected  to  his  memory  at  Montpellier,  with  a  Latin  inscription  to  the 
effect  that  it  was  raised  to  "  Louis  the  Great,  after  his  death."  Don 
Ustariz,  a  statesman  who  wrote  upon  the  trade  and  finances  of  Spain, 
calls  him  "  a  prodigious  man." 

All  these  changes  in  the  government  and  in  the  separate  orders  of 
the  State  necessarily  produced  a  very  great  change  in  morals  and  manners. 
The  spirit  of  faction,  wrath  and  rebellion  that  had  possessed  the  citizens 
since  the  time  of  Francois  II.  turned  to  emulation  in  the  service  of  their 
Prince.    The  possessors  of  great  estates  being  no  longer  shut  up  in  them, 


THE 


CHEVALIER 


DE  ROHAN 


237 


and  the  governors  of  provinces  no  longer  having  important  posts  to 
give  away,  the  only  favour  to  be  sought  was  that  of  the  sovereign,  and 
the  State  became  a  complete  whole,  with  every  line  converging  to  the 
one  centre. 

Thus  was  the  Court  delivered  from  those  factions  and  conspiracies 
which  had  distracted  the  State  for  so  many  years.     Under  the  adminis- 


bied's-eye  VIEW  of  marly. 

(From  an  engraving  of  the  time,  published  by  BalUienl.) 


tration  of  Louis  XIV.  there  was  but  one  plot,  a  conspiracy  planned  in 
1674  by  M.  de  La  Truaumont,  a  Norman  gentleman,  who  had  been 
ruined  by  debt  and  debauchery,  aided  by  the  Chevalier  de  Rohan,  Grand 
Veneur  of  France,  a  person  of  much  courage  but  little  prudence.  The 
haughtiness  and  severity  of  the  Marquis  de  Louvois  had  so  irritated  the 
Chevalier  de  Rohan  that  on  coming  from  an  interview  with  him  to  the 
house  of  M.  de  Caumartin,  he  threw  himself  on  a  couch  and  exclaimed 
excitedly  :    "  Either  this  —  Louvois  dies  or  I  !  "      Caumartin  took  this 


238  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

merely  for  a  passing  expression  of  anger,  but  the  young  man  having 
asked   him    on   the  following   day  whether    he    believed    the   people  of 


STATUE  OF  LOUIS   XIV.   AT  LYONS,    BY  DESJAltDINS. 
(Bas-reliefs  of  the  lihûne  and  the  Saône,  by  Coustou.   Tlie  statue  was  by  Desjardhis.    Restoration  from  a  print  -by  Amlrau.) 

Normandy  to  be  attached  to  the  Government,  Caumartin  at  once  suspected 
dangerous  designs.     "  The  time  of  the  Fronde  is  past,"  he  said.     "  Believe 


A    FOOLISH  CONSPIRACY 


239 


me,  you  are  going  to  destruction,  and  no  one  will  regret  you."  The 
Chevalier  de  Rohan,  however,  did  not  believe  him,  but  entered  into  the 
conspiracy  with  La  Truaumont,  The  only  other  person  in  the  plot,  was  the 
Chevalier  de  Préaux,  a  nephew  of  La  Truaumont,  who  was  persuaded  by 
his  uncle,  and  in  his  turn  persuaded  his  mistress,  the  Marquise  de  Villiers. 
Their  aim  and  hope  did  not  and  could  not  reach  to  making  themselves 
a  party  in  the  State  ;  they  intended  only  to  sell  and  surrender  Quillebuf 


THE  EXECUTION  OK  Till;  CHEVALIER   DE  ROHAN. 
(From  a  drawing  in  the  Cabinet  of  Prints.) 


to  the  Dutch,  and  so  to  introduce  the  foe  into  Normandy.  This  was 
rather  a  cowardly  and  clumsily-contrived  act  of  treason  than  a  conspiracy. 
The  execution  of  all  the  guilty  persons  was  the  sole  result  of  this  mad 
and  useless  crime  which  is  hardly  remembered  now. 

A  few  attempts  at  sedition  in  the  provinces  were  made,  but  they  were 
trifling  popular  tumults,  easily  suppressed.  Even  the  Huguenots  kepi 
themselves  quiet,  until  the  time  when  their  places  of  worship  were 
destroyed.  In  fact  the  King  succeeded  in  turning  a  previously  turbulent 
nation  into  a   peaceable  people,  dangerous  to    their  euemies  only,  after 


240 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


having  been  for  more  than  a  century  dangerous  to  themselves.  Their 
manners  (mœurs)  were  "gentled"  without  injury  to  their  courage. 

The  houses  which  all  the  "  seigneurs  "  built  or  bought  in  Paris,  and 
wherein  they  lived  staidly  with  their  wives,  provided  a  school  of  politeness 
for  the  young  men  of  the  time,  and  by  degrees  weaned  them  from  the 
tavern  life  still   customary,  and  which  led  to  nothing  but  debauchery. 

Manners  and  customs  are  so 
much  influenced  by  small  things, 
that  the  habit  of  going  to  Paris 
on  horseback  kept  up  a  dis- 
position to  constant  quarrels  : 
these  ceased  when  the  custom 
was  abolished.  Propriety  of 
demeanour  and  conversation, 
chiefly  due  to  the  women  who 
brought  "  society  "  together  at 
their  houses,  rendered  general 
intercourse  more  agreeable,  and 
reading  brightened  and  solidi- 
fied men's  minds  in  process  of 
time.  The  treachery  and  crime 
on  a  large  scale  which  are  not 
accounted  dishonour  in  times  of 
faction  and  disorder  were 
thenceforth  hardly  known.  The 

A  PROVINCIAL  LADY'S  COSTUME  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  ^0rr0rS    Qf    ^    BllnvillierS  and 

(Young  lady's  portrait  by  Rethel.    From  a  print  by  Saint-Jean.) 

the  Voisins  were  but  passing 
storms  in  a  serene  sky  ;  and  it  would  be  as  unreasonable  to  condemn 
a  nation  for  the  flagrant  crimes  of  certain  individuals  as  to  canonise 
it  for  the  reform  of  La  Trappe. 

All  the  different  states  of  life  were  formerly  to  be  recognised  by 
their  characteristic  faults.  Soldiers,  and  young  men  destined  to  the 
profession  of  arms,  were  impulsive  and  hot-headed  ;  the  profession  of  the 
law  carried  grim  gravity  with  it,  aided  not  a  little  by  the  lawyer's  gown 
being  always  worn,  even  at  Court.  It  was  the  same  with  the  Universities 
and  in  the  medical  profession.  Merchants  still  wore  the  short  gown  at 
their  meetings,  and  wore  their  short-cut  clothes  when  they  went  to  the 


h-ni,>    (<)<i  Ion  .  <S^rr.n<\'nl  <\  ,  Atortter 


A    FUSION    OF  CLASSES 


241 


Ministers  on  commercial  affairs,  and  even  the  leading  merchants  were 
very  plain  men  ;  but  the  houses,  the  theatres,  the  promenades,  which 
brought  people  together  to  enjoy  a  more  refined  life  gradually  assimilated 
the  general  appearance  of  the  people.  Now,  even  in  the  shopkeeper 
class  we  see  politeness  prevail.  The  provinces  were  affected  in  time 
by  these  changes. 

Good  taste  and  convenience  are  now  considered   rather  than  show. 


THE  HÔTEL  OF  MADAME  DE  BEAUVAI8,  HUE  SAINT-ANTOINE,  PARIS. 
(From  a  print  by  Marot.) 


The  crowd  of  pages  and  liveried  servants  has  disappeared,  to  be  replaced 
by  greater  comfort.  Pomp  and  vain  display  are  left  to  the  nations  who 
still  exist  for  public  show  only,  and  know  not  the  art  of  living. 

The  extreme  facility  introduced  into  social  intercourse,  its  simplicity, 
affability  and  intellectual  culture,  have  made  Paris  a  city  that  probably 
excels  either  Eome  or  Athens  in  the  time  of  their  splendour  in 
pleasantness  of  living. 

The  ready  support  and  encouragement  afforded  to  all  the  arts  and 
sciences;  the  opportunities  for  the  gratification  of  every  taste  and  require- 
ment;  utility  combined  with   all   that  is  pleasing,  and  added   to  these 

2  I 


242 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


the  kindliness  of  the  Parisians,  attract  numbers  of  foreigners,  not  only  to 
visit,  but  to  make  their  abode  in  that  native  land  of  society.  Those  Parisians 
who  leave  Paris  are  persons  called  elsewhere  by  their  talents,  and  who  do 
honour  abroad  to  their  country,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  worthless 
individuals  who  want  to  profit  by  the  consideration  in  which  other 
countries  hold  France,  or  else  they  are  emigrants  who  prefer  their  faith 
to  their  fatherland,  and  seek  fortune  or  poverty  on  alien  soil,  after  the 
example  of  their  fathers,  who  were  driven  out  of  France  by  that  flagrant 


THE  FOUNTAINS  OF  THE  PORTE  SAINT-DENIS,   DE  LA  CHARITÉ,   AND  DES  SAINT-PÈRES  IN  PARIS. 

■  (Print  by  Mariette,  16Ï2.) 

affront  to  the  memory  of  our  great  monarch  Henri  IV.,  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes.  Lastly,  they  are  persons  discontented  with  the 
ministry,  or  accused  persons  who  have  escaped  from  the  awards  of  justice 
not  invariably  well-administered  :  the  latter  is  the  case  in  every  country 
in  the  world. 

There  are  now  no  small  tyrants  at  Court,  as  in  the  time  of  the 
Fronde,  and  under  Louis  XIII.,  and  in  the  preceding  centuries,  but  that 
numerous  aristocracy,  which  was  degraded  for  so  long  by  serving  subjects 
who  were  too  powerful,  is  now  really  great.  Gentlemen  and  citizens 
who  would  formerly  have  thought  themselves  honoured  by  being  servants 


A    SATIRE    BY    LA  BRUYÈRE 


243 


to  those  "  seigneurs,"  become  their  equals  and 
very  often  their  superiors,  in  the  military 
service  ;  and  the  more  service  of  every  kind 
prevails  over  titles  the  better  for  the  nation. 

The  age  of  Louis  XIV.  has  been  compared 
with  the  age  of  Augustus.  Not  that  the 
power  and  the  personal  importance  of 
the  former  are  to  be  compared  with 
those  of  the  latter,  for  Kome  and 
Augustus  were  of  ten  times  more 
account  in  the  world  than  Paris  and 
Louis  XIV.  ;  but  Athens  led  the  Roman 
Empire  in  everything  else.  We  must 
also  remember  that  although  there  is 
nothing  now  like  ancient  Rome  and 
Augustus,  yet  as  a  whole,  Europe  is  far 
superior  to  the  entire  Roman  Empire. 
In  the  time  of  Augustus  there  was 
only  one  nation  ;  now  there  are  several 
nations,  all  civilised,  policed,  warlike, 
enlightened,  and  possessed  of  arts  unknown  to  the  (J reeks  and  the  Romans; 
but  not  one  of  them  has  achieved  higher  distinction  of  every  kind  than 
the  nation  formed,  so  to  speak,  by  Louis  XIV. 


TSAPOl  OF  RED  0OPJ>£R, 
(f  rom  tlie  Collection  of  M  Edmond  -  u.-rin  ) 


+ 
+  + 


This  glowing  picture  of  Paris  and   the  Parisian   bourgeoisie,  which  is 


the  most  faithful  portrayal  of  th 


THE  INNER  COUNT  OF  THE  HOTEL  DE  VILLE  OE  PARIS,  WITH 
THE  STATUE  OF  LOUIS  XIV.   WHICH  WAS  ERECTED 
THERE  IN  1687. 


manners  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
recalls  the  satire  of  La  Bruyère. 
I  le  writes  : — 

"  The  Roman  Emperors 
never  '  triumphed  '  in  Rome  as 
the  citizens  of  Paris  do  when 
they  are  carried  about  from 
place  to  place  in  the  town  in 
defiance  of  wind,  rain,  dust, 
and  the  sun.  I  low  différent 
from  their  forefathers'  journeys 


244 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


on  mules  !  They  did  not  deprive  themselves  of  the  necessary  to  obtain 
the  superfluous,  or  prefer  show  to  utility.  They  did  not  only  half 
light  their  houses  and  warm  themselves  by  a  handful  of  fire.  Wax 
was  for  the  altar  and  for  the  palace.  They  did  not  rise  from  a 
bad  dinner  to  get  into  a  fine  carriage  ;  they  held  that  men  had  legs 
to  walk  with,  and  they  walked.  They  kept  themselves  clean  enough  when 
it  was  dry,  and  when  it  was  wet  they  soiled  their  shoes  in  the  streets 


THE  GLORY  OF  l'ARIS  AND  THK   SPLENDOUR  OF  ITS  BOURGEOIS   IX  THE   REIGN  OF   LOTIS  XIV. 

(Print  by  Jollain,  1692.) 

and  the  crossings  with  as  little  concern  as  a  sportsman  would  cross  a 
ploughed  field,  or  a  soldier  get  wet  in  a  trench. 

"  The  harnessing  of  two  men  to  a  litter  had  not  been  invented,  and 
ordinary  magistrates  went  on  foot  to  their  Courts  as  readily  and  simply 
as  Augustus  went  on  foot  to  the  Capitol.  In  those  days  pewter  shone 
upon  the  tables  and  the  side-boards  ;  iron  and  copper  furnished  the 
household  utensils  ;  silver  and  gold  were  kept  in  the  coffers.  Women  were 
waited  upon  by  women,  and  the  latter  were  even  employed  in  the 
kitchen.  The  fine  names  of  '  governor  '  and  '  governess  '  were  not  unknown 
to  our  forefathers  :   they  knew  that  the  children  of  kings  and  princes 


A    SATIRE    BY    LA  BRUYÈRE 


245 


were  confided  to  such  persons,  but  they  helped  the  servants  who  attended 
upon  their  children,  whose  education  they  superintended.  They  reckoned 
with  themselves  in  all  things  ;  their  expenses  were  regulated  by  their 
receipts  ;  the  number  of  their  servants,  their  equipages,  their  furniture, 
their    table,  their    town   and   country    houses  were   all    on    the    scale  of 


Luxrmoi'.s  UK1-:  in  the  seventeenth  centdrt. 
(A  lady  reclining  on  a  tent-bedstead.   From  a  print  by  Saint-Jean.) 


their  fortune  and  condition  :  yet  certain  distinctions  were  observed  which 
prevented  the  wife  of  a  lawyer  in  a  small  way  from  being  taken  fur  the 
wife  of  a  magistrate,  and  a  plebeian  or  valet  for  a  gentleman.  Not  taring 
either  to  swell  or  to  squander  their  patrimony,  they  left  it  entire  to  their 
heirs,  and  so  closed  a  life  of  moderation  in  peace.  They  did  n<>t  say  : 
'The  times  are  hard;  poverty  is  great;  money  is  scarce.'  They  had  less 
money  than  we  have,  but  they  had  enough,  for  there  is  more  wealth 


246 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


in  moderation  and  economy  than  in  gold  and  lands.  In  short,  the 
maxim  that  splendour,  luxury  and  magnificence  is  waste  and  folly  in  the 
case  of  private  individuals,  was  in  those  days  held  to  be  a  great  truth." 

La  Bruyère  criticises  the  occupations  and  the  lavish  living  of  the 
Parisians  of  both  sexes  impartially.  He  does  not,  like  Voltaire,  unre- 
servedly admire  their  fashionable  promenades  and  their  conversation. 
The  reservations  of  such  an  observer  are  valuable,  and  the  instances  he 
offers  in  support  of  his  satire  are  precious  items  in  a  history  of  the 
manners  of  the  century. 


THE  PORTE  SAINT-BERNARD,   OPPOSITE  THE  ÎLE  DE  SAINT-LOUIS. 
(From  a  print  Tjy  V.  Fi'relle.) 


Of  the  Town  :  "In  Paris  every  evening  people  give  each  other 
rendezvous,  without  an  interchange  of  speech,  at  Court  or  at  the 
Tuileries,  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  inspection  and  disapproval. 

"  The  Parisians  cannot  do  without  the  same  '  set,'  whom  they  do  not 
like,  and  whom  they  ridicule. 

"  Everybody  waits  for  everybody  else  on  the  public  promenades, 
and  each  passes  in  review  before  the  other.  Nothing  escapes  ;  carriages, 
horses,  liveries,  coats-of-arms  are  observed  ;  the  occupants  are  generally 
respected  or  disdained  with  curiosity  or  with  malignity,  as  the  case  may 
be,  and  in  proportion  to  the  grandeur  or  the  modesty  of  their  equipage. 


THE    IDLER    IN  PARIS 


247 


"  In  these  places  of  general  resort  where  women  assemble  to  show 
their  fine  clothes,  and  excite  reciprocal  envy,  one  does  not  walk  about 
with  a  companion  for  the  sake  of  enjoying  conversation,  or  to  talk  about 
the  play  ;  the  object  is  to  show  off  to  the  public,  and  to  harden  oneself 
to  criticism.  Tn  fact,  at  these 
places  each  talks  to  himself,  and 
says  nothing  ;  the  talk  is  all  for 
the  passers-by  ;  it  is  to  produce 
an  effect  on  them  that  one  raises 
one's  voice,  jokes,  gesticulates, 
and  negligently  hangs  one  s  head. 

In  his  portrait  of  the  idler, 
La  Bruyère  describes  a  whole 
series  of  sights  and  diversions 
in  Paris  : 

"  Here,  you  say,  is  a  man 
that  I  have  seen  somewhere  ;  I 
cannot  remember  where,  but  his 
face  is  quite  familiar  to  me.  It 
is  familiar  to  many  others,  and  I 
am  going,  if  I  can,  to  assist  your 
memory.  Was  it  on  the  boule- 
vard ?  or  was  it  in  the  Avenue 
of  the  Tuileries  ?  or  perhaps 
it  was  in  the  balcony  at  the 
play  ?  Was  it  at  a  sermon,  at 
a  ball,  at  Rambouillet  ?  Where 
may  you  not  have  seen  him  ? 
Where  is  he  not  to  be  seen  ? 
If  an  execution  or  a  display  of 
fireworks  is  about  to  take  place  in  the  great  square  (Place  de  la  Grève), 
he  appears  at  a  window  of  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  ;  if  there  is  a  state  entry, 
he  will  have  a  place  on  a  stand  ;  if  it  is  a  tilting  match,  he  is  in 
the  amphitheatre.  If  the  King  receives  the  ambassadors,  he  witnesses 
their  arrival  ;  he  is  present  at  the  audience  ;  he  is  in  the  front  of  the  line 
on  their  return.  It  is  his  face  that  we  see  in  the  almanacs  representing 
the  people.    There  is  a  public  hunt,  and  there  is  he  on  horseback  ;  there 


TA  I'ESTB  Y  SC  K  E  K  X — -S  K  V  EXT EEXTH  C  EX  T  U  H  Y . 

(Mobilier  National.—  Fontainebleau.) 


248 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


is  talk  of  a  camp  or  a  review  ;  he  is  at  Ouilles  or  Achères.  He  looks 
on  ;  he  has  grown  old  in  sight-seeing  ;  he  is  a  looker-on  by  profession. 
He  does  nothing  that  a  man  ought  to  do  ;  he  knows  nothing  that  he 
ought  to  know,  but  he  has  seen,  he  says,  all  that  can  be  seen,  and  he 
will  die  without  regret.  What  a  loss  then  for  the  whole  city  !  Now 
he  is  gone  who  will  there  be   to   say  :   '  The  cours  is  closed,  no  one  is 


LUXURY  IX  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  '.   A  LADY  OF  QUALITY  IX  DÉSHABILLÉ. 
(  From  a  print  by  Saint- Jean.) 

driving  there  to-day  ;  the  bog  at  Vincennes  is  dried  up,  no  one  will  be 
upset  there  now.'  Who  will  give  us  notice  of  a  concert,  or  a  fine  Salut 
(Benediction  service),  or  a  conjurer's  show  at  the  fair  ?  Who  will  inform 
you  that  Beauma vielle  died  yesterday  ?  that  Rochois  has  a  cold  and  will 
be  unable  to  sing  for  a  week?  Who  else  will  know  a  bourgeois  by  his 
livery  aud  his  arms  ?  Will  there  be  anyone  to  say,  £  Scapin  wears  rieurs 
de  lys,'  or  anyone  to  care?     Who  will  pronounce  the  name  of  a  fair 


TOPICS    OF    THE  TIME 


249 


bourgeoise  with  such  conceited 
emphasis  ?  Who  will  possess  so 
many  vaudevilles  ?  Who  will 
lend  the  ladies  the  Annales 
Galantes,  or  the  Journal 
Amoureux?  AVho  will  sine  a 
whole  dialogue  out  of  an  opera 
at  table  ?  In  short,  who  will 
supply  his  place  to  the  foolish, 
lazy,  and  unemployed  people 
to  be  found  in  the  city  as  well 
as  elsewhere  ?  " 

La  Bruyère,  like  Voltaire, 
compares  Paris  with  Athens 
and  Rome.  He  says  :  "  There 
will  be  talk  of  a  capital  of  a 
great  kingdom  wherein  were 
neither  public  squares,  nor 
fountains,  nor  amphitheatre, 
nor  gallery  ;  but  which  was  a 
marvellous  city  nevertheless." 

Saint-Simon  dwells  upon  the  beautiflcation  of  Paris  even  while  he 
refuses  to  attribute  the  credit  of  it  to  Louis  XIV.  The  town  built  the 
Pont  Royal  to  replace  the  old  Pont  Rouge,  which  was  of  wood.  Les 
Invalides,  a  superb  monument,  was  due  to  Louvois.  The  magnificence  of 
that    structure    which  is  so  great  an  adornment  to  Paris  strikes  every- 

ereation  of  Louvois,  who  made 
it  square  so  that  the  King's 
Library,  the  AVeigh-House, 
the  Royal  Printiug-House, 
the  Academies,  and  the 
Great  Council,  which  is  still 
held  in  a  hired  house,  might 
be  placed  there.  This  formed 
a  very  useful  as  well  as  a 
handsome  monument.  Yet, 
immediately    on    the  death 

2  K 


A  I.ADY  OF  Till':  BOURGEOISIE  IN  WALKING  DRE! 
(From  a  fashion-plate.) 


body.    The  Place  Vendôme  is  likewise  the 


BLUE  SATIX  BAG  EMBROIDERED  IX  GOLD. 
(From  the  Collection  of  M.  Charles  Ilossigneux.) 


250 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


of  Louvois  the  King  sent  orders  to  have  the  plan  changed  as  we  see 
it  now. 

"  With  respect  to  the  manufactory  so  well  known  in  Paris  and 
elsewhere  under  the  name  of  the  Gobelins,  and  at  the  end  of  the  Cours 
under  the  name  of  the  Savonnerie,  both  these  estai  dishments  as  well  as  the 
Observatoire,  were  entirely  due  to  Colbert,  so  that  the  truth  respecting  these 
public  works  is  that  the  King  paid  for  them,  but  all  the  honour  belongs 
to  others." 

This  tribute,  which  Saint-Simon  renders  to  Louvois  and  to  Colbert, 


view  op  paris  from  the  pont  de  la  tournklle  :  the  seine,  notre  dame,  and  the  gardens 

of  l'île  du  talais. 

(From  a  print  by  1'i'ielle  and  Mariette.) 


notwithstanding  his  dislike,  is  a  reflection  of  the  blame  that  he,  like 
Voltaire,  so  often  cast  upon  Louis  XIV.  for  his  neglect  of  Paris  in 
favour  of  Versailles,  Trianon  and  Marly.  This  was  regretted  and 
complained  of  by  all  the  Parisians  of  the  seventeenth  century.  None 
have  expressed  those  regrets  more  forcibly  than  he  : 

"The  King  abandoned  Saint-Germain,  a  unique  place  in  its  variety  of 
prospect,  its  expanse  of  adjacent  forest,  the  beauty  of  its  trees,  and  its 
situation,  for  Versailles,  the  most  dull  and  dreary  of  places,  without 
prospect,  without  wood,  without  water,  without  even  soil,  for  everything 


SAINT-SI  MUX    ON  VERSAILLES 


251 


there  is  either  shifting  sand  or  marsh.  He  never  set  up  an  ornamental 
or  useful  work  in  Paris  except  the  Pont  Royal. 

"  We  might  dwell  at  length  upon  the  monstrous  defeets  of  a  palace 
so  huge  and  so  costly,  wTith  all  its  extravagant  appendages  :  its  orangery, 
kitchen-gardens,  dog-kennels,  stables,  and  enormous  out-buildings  ;  in 
short  a  town,  where  there  was  formerly  only  a  miserable  tavern  and  a 
trumpery  card-castle  that  Louis  XIII.  had  erected  so  that  he  might  not 
have  to  sleep  upon  straw. 

"Then  Trianon,  Clagny,  built  for  Madame  de  Montespan,  a  superb 
château  with  gardens,  fountains  and  park  ;  lastly,  Marly.  Thus  was  wealth 
squandered  upon  what  had  been  the  haunt  of  snakes,  frogs,  and  toads. 
Such  was  the  King's  bad  taste  in  all  things. 


MKDAI.LION  IN  HONOUR  01''  LOUIS  XIV. 

(Tail-piece  by  Poilly.) 


THK  SERGEANT. 
(After  a  priut  by  S.  Leclerc  in  the  Conditions  Je  la  Vie  humaine.') 


PEDIMENT  OK  THE  NEW  CUSTOM-HOUSE  AT  EOUEN. 
(Allegorical  bas-relief  by  Couston:  Commerce  and  Navigation.) 


I  I 

F  T  N  A  N  C  E 

T  F  the  administration  of  Colbert  be 
compared  with  all  the  preceding  ad- 
ministrations, posterity  will  cherish  the  man 
whose  body  the  insensate  people  would  have 
torn  in  pieces  after  his  death.  The  French 
undoubtedly  owe  to  hini  their  industry,  their 
commerce,  and  consequently,  that  wealth 
whose  sources  sometimes  diminish  in  war- 
times, hut  are  re-opened  with  the  advent  of 
peace.  Nevertheless,  there  were  those  who 
(By  Francois  (hauvea,..)  had  t]ie  ingratitude  to  blame  Colbert  in  1702 

for  the  languor  which  began  to  be  felt  in  the  nerves  of  the  state.  A 
certain  Bois- Guillcbcrt,  lieutenant-general  of  the  bailiwick  of  Rouen, 
published  two  small  volumes  under  the  title  of  "Le  Détail  de  la  France." 
in  which  he  asserted  that  everything  since  16G0  had  Keen  declining. 
Precisely  the  contrary  was  the  case.  France  had  never  been  so  flourishing 
since  the  death  of  Cardinal  Maxarin  until  the  war  of  L689  ;  and  even 
in  that  war,  the  body  of  the  State,  beginning  to  fall  sick,  was  sustained 
by  the  vigour  that  Colbert  had  infused  into  all  its  members.  The  author 
of  this  work  asserted  that  the  value  of  the  lands  of  the  kingdom  had 
diminished  by  fifteen  hundred  million  livres.  Nothing  could  be  more  false 
or  less  probable.  Nevertheless  his  captious  arguments  persuaded  those 
who  wished  to  be  persuaded.      It  is  the  same  in  England  where,  in  the 


254 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


most  prosperous  times,  we  find  a  hundred  public  prints  demonstrating  that 
the  country  is  ruined. 

In  France  it  was  easier  than  elsewhere  to  discredit  a  finance  minister 
in  the  estimation  of  the  people.  That  ministry  is  especially  arduous, 
because  taxation  is  always  so  hateful,  and  ignorance  and  prejudice  reign  in 
matters  of  finance  as  they  reign  in  philosophy. 

So  late  is  wisdom  learned,  that  in  1718  the  parliament  of  Paris  in 

a  body  told  the  Duc  d'Orléans  that  "  the 
intrinsic  value  of  the  silver  mark  is  twenty- 
five  livres,"  as  though  there  were  another 
intrinsic  value  than  that  of  the  weight  and 
the  standard.  The  Duc  d'Orléans,  intelligent 
as  he  was,  failed  to  detect  this  blunder  of 
the  parliament. 

Colbert  brought  both  genius  and  know- 
ledge to  the  handling  of  the  finances.  Like 
the  Duc  de  Sully,  he  began  by  checking 
abuses  and  pillage,  which  were  enormous. 
The  collection  of  revenue  was  simplified  as 
much  as  possible,  and  by  an  economy 
little  short  of  marvellous,  he  increased 
the  treasury  while  he  reduced  the  taxes. 
The  memorable  edict  of  1664  shows  that 
a  million  of  the  money  of  that  time  was 
annually  allotted  to  the  encouragement  of 
manufactures  and  the  maritime  trade.  Nor 
did  he  neglect  the  provinces,  which  had 
previously  been  abandoned  to  the  rapacity 
of  the  tax-farmers.  In  1667,  certain  English  merchants  having  applied 
to  his  brother,  M.  Colbert  de  Croissy,  then  Ambassador  to  London,  for 
permission  to  supply  France  with  Irish  cattle  and  salt  provisions  for  the 
Colonies,  the  Comptroller  -  General  replied  that  for  the  last  four  years 
France  had  been  selling  to  foreigners. 

But  a  court  of  justice  and  great  reforms  had  been  required  for 
this  admirable  administration.  These  innovations,  and  some  important 
transactions  in  rentes,  required  edicts.  Since  the  reign  of  Francois  I. 
parliament  had  the  right  of  ratifying  these.      It  was  proposed  that  the 


EDOUARD  DE  COLBERT,   MARQUIS  DE 
VILLACERF. 
(Bust  by  Desjardins  in  the  Louvre.) 


PORTRAIT  OF  JEAN-BATTIST     OI.BRRT,  WITH  HIS  ARMS — THE  SNAKE. 
(Engraving,  by  Andran,  from  tlio  portral  by  Lcfobvre.) 


THE    KING    AND    THE  MAGISTRACY 


257 


edicts  should  he  simply  registered  at  the  Court  of  Accounts,  but  the 
former  usage  prevailed.  The  King  went  himself  to  the  parliament  to 
have  the  edicts  verified  in  1664. 

He  never  forgot  the  Fronde  and  that  a  decree  of  proscription  against 
his  first  Minister    was    issued,  and    other   decrees   by  which   the  royal 


STOCKJOBBERS  AND  REVENUE  FARMERS  STRUCK  BY  THE  LIGHTNING  OK  THE  ROYAL  JUSTICE. 

(Satirical  print  of  H 11.) 

revenues  were  seized,  and  the  goods  and  money  of  citizens  attached  to  the 
Crown  were  pillaged.  All  these  excesses  having  begun  by  remonstrances 
on  edicts  concerning  the  revenues  of  the  State,  he  ordained  in  1 667 
that  parliament  should  make  no  representation  later  than  within  the  week 
after  having  registered  "  with  oliedience."  This  edict  was  renewed  in 
1673.  Thus  he  never  received  a  remonstrance  from  any  court  of  judicature 
except  in  the  fatal  year  1709,  when  the  parliament  of  Paris  ineffectually 

2  h 


258 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


represented  the  wrong  that  the  minister  of  finance  was  doing  the  State 
by  the  variation  of  the  price  of  gold  and  silver. 

Nearly  all  the  citizens  were  persuaded  that,  if  the  parliament  had 
always  confined  itself  to  informing  the  King  of  the  grievances  and  wants 
of  the  people,  the  danger  of  the  taxation,  and  the  still  more  dangerous 

sale  of  the  taxes  to  jobbers 
who  deceived  the  Kins;  and 
oppressed  the  people,  the  cus- 
tom of  remonstrances  would 
have  been  a  safeguard  to 
the  State,  a  check  upon  the 
greed  of  the  financiers,  and  a 
continual  lesson  to  Ministers. 
But  the  strange  abuse  of 
so  salutary  a  remedy  had 
angered  Louis  XIV.  so  greatly 
that  he  saw  only  the  abuses, 
and  proscribed  the  remedy. 
The  indignation  he  cherished 
in  his  heart  was  carried 
so  far  that  on  the  1 3th  of 
August,  1669,  he  again  went  to 
the  parliament  himself,  there 
to  revoke  the  privileges  of 
nobility  which  he  had  granted 
in  1644  during  his  minority 
to  all  the  superior  courts. 

But  notwithstanding  this 
edict,  registered  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  King,  the  custom 


la 


Uioce  2  ar  <J  esta 


if  fare 


r<-;v  l.i 

ul  pi  est  Ji/ 

_i_  


ail  impose 

ttpUr  /<<  tm. 


TAX-COLLECTORS  OFFICE  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURÏ. 
PAYMENT  OF  POLL-TAX. 

(From  a  popular  print  of  1709.) 


of  allowing  right  of  nobility  to  all  whose  fathers  had  exercised  judicial 
functions  for  twenty  years  in  a  superior  court,  or  had  died  while  in 
office,  survived. 

The  King,  while  inflicting  a  slight  on  the  magistracy  desired  to 
encourage  the  nobility  who  defend  the  realm,  and  the  agriculturalists  who  till 
the  soil.  He  had  assigned  already  a  pension  of  two  thousand  livres  (nearly 
four  thousand  of  our  money),  by  his  edict  of  1666,  to  every  gentleman 


THE    SOLE    ERROR    OF  COLRERT 


259 


who  was  the  father  of  twelve  children,  and  one  thousand  livres  to  fathers 
of  ten.  Half  of  this  bounty  was  granted  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
towns  exempt  from  taxes,  and  every  man  amongst  those  liable  who  was 
the  father  of  ten  children,  living  or  dead,  was  exempted  frcm  all 
taxation. 

Colbert  did  not  accomplish  all  that  he  might  have  done,  still  less  all 
that  he  desired  to  do.    Men  were  not  then  sufficiently  enlightened,  and  in 


PEASANTS  AT  TABLE. 
(After  a  painting  by  the  brothers  Le  Nain  in  the  Louvre.) 

a  great  kingdom  there  are  always  great  abuses.  Arbitrary  taxation,  the 
multiplicity  of  duties,  the  customs  due  from  province  to  province,  making 
one  part  of  France  foreign  and  even  hostile  to  the  other,  the  inequality  of 
measures  in  use  in  the  various  towns — these  and  a  score  of  other  ills  of 
the  body  politic  could  not  be  cured. 

The  greatest  error  that  has  been  laid  to  this  Minister's  charge  is  that 
he  did  not  venture  to  encourage  the  exportation  of  corn.  It  was  long 
since  any  had  been  sent  abroad.  Agriculture  had  been  neglected  dining 
the   stormy  administration  of  Richelieu,  and   in   the   civil   wars  of  the 


260 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Fronde  it  had  been  neglected  still  more.  A  famine  in  1661  completed  the 
ruin  of  the  rural  districts  ;  ruin,  however,  which  nature,  seconded  by 
labour,  is  always  ready  to  repair.  In  that  unfortunate  year  the  parliament 
of  Paris  made  a  decree  which  appeared  just  in  its  principle,  but  had 
consequences  almost  as  harmful  as  all  the  decrees  made  by  that  body 
during  the  civil  war.  Corn  merchants  were  prohibited,  under  heavy 
penalties,   from  forming   any   companies  for  that  trade,  and  individuals 

were  forbidden  to  accumulate 
corn.  A  measure  which  was 
useful  at  a  period  of  scarcity, 
became  at  length  pernicious,  and 
discouraged  the  aoriculturalists. 

The  Minister  had  no  other 
resource  than  to  buy  from 
foreigners  the  very  same  corn 
at  a  high  price  which  the 
French  had  sold  to  them  in 
previous  years  of  abundance. 
The  people  were  fed,  but  at 
a  heavy  cost  to  the  State  ;  M. 
Colbert,  however,  had  brought 
the  finances  into  such  order 
that  the  loss  was  not  serious. 

The  fear  of  another  bad 
harvest  closed  our  ports  against 
the  export  of  corn.  Each 
intendant  made  a  merit  of  pre- 
venting the  transport  of  grain 
from  his  province  to  the  next. 
In  good  years  corn  could  not  be  sold  without  application  to  the  Council. 
That  fatal  policy  seemed  to  be  excused  by  the  experience  of  the  past.  The 
Council  was  afraid  that  it  might  become  necessary  to  re-purchase  corn, 
which  the  growers  had  sold  cheaply,  at  a  high  price,  were  external  trade 
in  grain  permitted. 

The  grower,  even  more  timid  than  the  Council,  was  afraid  of  ruining 
himself  by  growing  a  commodity  from  which  he  could  not  expect  a  large 
profit,  and  the  land  was  insufficiently  cultivated.    The  flourishing  condition 


MONOPOLISTS  COMPELLED  BY  JUSTICE  TO  DISGORGE  THEIR 
CORN,   AND  PLENTY  RESTORED  TO  FRANCE. 
(Satirical  print,  1695.) 


A    LONG-DEFERRED  REFORM 


261 


of  all  the  other  branches  of  the  administration  prevented  Colbert  from 
rectifying  the  error  of  the  most  important  of  all. 

This  was  the  solitary  blot  upon  his  ministry  :  a  great  blot,  but  its 
excuse — a  proof  of  how  difficult  it  is  to  uproot  prejudices  in  French 
administration,  and  to  do  good — resides  in  the  fact  that,  although  all 
intelligent  citizens  recognised  the  error,  it  was  not  repaired  by  any  minister 


OFFICK  FOll  STAMPS  AND  ADDHKSSI  s. 
(Almanac  of  1694  in  the  llcimin  Collection.) 


until  a  hundred  years  later,  at  the  memorable  epoch  of  17(14,  when  ;i  more 
large-minded  comptroller-general  delivered  France  from  deep  poverty  by 
restoring  export  trade  in  corn,  with  restrictions  similar  to  those  in  force 
in  England. 

To  meet  the  simultaneous  expenses  of  war,  building  and  pleasure, 
Colbert,  about  1672,  was  obliged  to  re-impose  taxes,  on  annuities  and 
increase  of  wages,  that  he  had  at  first  contemplated  abolishing  for  ever — 
charges  which  relieve  the  State  for  a  time,  and  encumber  it  for  centuries. 


2  fi  2 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


He  was  forced  to  forego  the  conviction,  which  all  the  instructions  left 
by  him  prove  him  to  have  held,  that  the  wealth  of  a  country  consists  only  in 
the  number  of  its  inhabitants,  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  industry  and 
commerce  ;  also,  that  the  King,  possessing  but  little  property  of  his  own, 
and  being  only  an  administrator  of  the  property  of  his  subjects,  cannot  be 
really  wealthy  otherwise  than  by  taxes  collected  and  equitably  distributed. 

He  was  so  afraid  of  de- 
livering up  the  State  to  jobbers 
that,  some  time  after  the  dis- 
solution of  the  Court  of  Justice, 
which  he  set  up  against  them, 
he  procured  a  decree  of  the 
Council  making  it  a  capital 
offence  to  advance  money  upon 
the  new  taxes.  He  hoped  to 
check  the  cupidity  of  specula- 
tors by  this  comminatory 
decree,  which  never  was  printed, 
but  he  was  soon  obliged  to 
employ  them  without  even  re- 
voking the  decree  :  the  King- 
was  urging  him,  and  prompt 
stsps  had  to  be  taken. 

The  invention  of  farming- 
out  the  revenue,  brought  into 
France  from  Italy  by  Catherine 

"À  FEMME  DÉSOLÉE  MAKI  JOYEUX,  TREVE  À  LA  BOURSE  DU  MARI."       de  Médicis,  had  SO  COlTUpted  tlie 

(Satirical  print  on  the  edict  of  Louis  XIV.  against  the  extravagance  Government   1)V    the  dan°"CroUS 

of  women,  November  16th,  170U.)  ^  0 

facility  it  gives,  that,  after 
having  been  suppressed  during  the  prosperous  reign  of  Henry  IV.,  it 
re-appeared  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII.,  and  disfigured  the  close  of  that 
of  Louis  XIV. 

Sully  enriched  the  state  by  a  wise  economy,  supported  by  a  king  as 
parsimonious  as  he  was  valiant  ;  a  soldier  at  the  head  of  his  army,  and 
a  father  with  his  people.  Colbert  upheld  the  state  in  spite  of  the 
extravagance  of  an  ostentatious  master,  who  would  have  lavished  every- 
thing  to  make  his  reign  brilliant. 


HEROIC  REMEDIES 


263 


After  Colbert's  death,  when  the  King  proposed  to  make  Le  Pelletier 
minister  of  finance.  Le  Tellier  said  to  him,  "  Sire,  he  is  not  the  right  man 
for  that  office."  "Why?"  asked  the  King.  Le  Tellier  answered,  "  He  is 
not  hard  enough."  "But  I,"  replied  the  King,  "do  not  want  my  people 
to  be  hardly  dealt  with."  The  new  Minister  was  in  fact  lenient  and 
just;  but  in  1G88,  when  the  country  was  again  plunged  in  war  and  had 
to  defend  itself  against  the  Augsburg  alliance,  that  is  to  say,  against 


THE  FRENCH  PEASANTS  AGGRIEVED  BY  COMPULSORY  ENLISTMENT. 
(From  a  print  of  1705,  representing  tlie  Ont  levy  r.f  militia.) 


almost  all  Europe,  he  found  himself  weighted  with  a  burden  thai  had  been 
too  heavy  for  Colbert,  and  the  ready  and  mischievous  expedient  of  borrowing 
and  creating  stock  was  his  first  resource.  Afterwards  an  effort  was  made 
to  check  luxurious  living,  but  this  in  a  kingdom  lull  of  manufactures  is 
to  diminish  industry  and  the  circulation  of  money,  and  is  only  serviceable 
to  a  people  who  import  their  luxuries. 

An  order  was  given  that  all  articles  of  silver,  then  very  numerous 
in  the  houses  of  the  noble  and  the  wealthy,  and  which  were  a  proof  of 
prosperity  and  of  wealth,  should  be  sent  to  the  Mint.  The  King  himself 
set  the  example  ;  he  parted  with  all  those  large  silver  tables,  candelabra, 


264  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

couches  of  massive  silver,  and  many  other  articles,  which  were  masterpieces 
of  carving  by  Ballin,  a  unique  artist  in  his  line,  and  all  executed  from 
designs  by  Lebrun.  They  had  cost  ten  millions,  they  produced  three. 
The  wrought  silver  goods  of  private  individuals  also  produced  three 
millions.    The  resource  was  a  weak  one. 

Afterwards  one  of  those  great  mistakes  which  remained  uncorrected 
until  our  time  was  made.  This  was  the  altering  of  the  coinage,  and 
the  giving  a  value  to  the  crown  pieces  not  proportioned  to  the  quarters 


THE  MISERIES  OF  WAR  I    VIOLENCE  OF  THE  FRENCH  IN  THE  INVASION  OF  1672. 
(From  a  Dutch  print.) 


in  the  re-coining  ;  the  result  was  that  the  quarters  were  taken  abroad 
and  struck  into  crowns,  on  which  profit  was  made  by  sending  them  back 
to  France.  A  country  must  be  vitally  sound  in  itself  to  withstand  such 
shocks  as  these  without  loss  of  power.  The  people  were  not  yet  educated, 
and  finance,  like  physics,  was  a  science  of  vain  conjectures.  The  factors 
to  whom  the  revenues  were  farmed  out  were  cheats  who  imposed  on  the 
ministry  ;  the  State  was  defrauded  of  eighty  millions.  Twenty  years  are 
needed  to  repair  such  breaches. 

About  1691  and  1692  the  finances  of  the  State  appeared  to  be 
seriously  deranged.     Those  who  attributed  the  dwindling  of  the  resources 


CAUSES    OF    DECLINING  WEALTH 


265 


mainly  to  the  profuse  expenditure  of  Louis  XIV.  on  buildings,  on  the 
arts,  or  on  his  pleasures,  were  not  aware  that,  on  the  contrary,  expenditure 
which  encourages  industry  enriches  a  State.  It  is  war  that  necessarily 
impoverishes  the  public  treasury,  unless  it  be  replenished  by  the  spoils  of 
the  conquered.  Since  the  ancient  Romans  I  do  not  know  of  any  nation 
which  has  been  enriched  by  its  victories.    Italy,  in  the  sixteenth  century, 


SOLID  StliVER  COUCH,  WITH  THE  ARMS  OF  THE  sl'N'-KIN(i  AND  ORNAMENTS  IN  QOLDSMTTH'S  WORK. 
(From  u  print  1  >y  Saint-Jean,  representing  the  bath-room  of  a  lady  of  quality.) 


was  rich,  but  only  by  her  commerce.  Holland  could  never  have  subsisted 
for  any  long  period  if  she  had  limited  herself  to  the  capture  of  the 
Spanish  treasure-ships,  if  the  Indies  had  not  furnished  the  supplies  which 
were  the  aliment  of  her  power.  England  lias  always  been  impoverished  by 
war,  even  when  she  was  destroying  the  French  fleets,  and  commerce  only 
has  enriched  her.  The  Algerians,  who  have  nothing  but  what  they  gain 
by  piracy,  are  a  very  poor  people. 

•J  M 


266 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Wan. 


Among  European  nations,  war,  at  the  end  of  a  few  years,  impoverishes 
conqueror  almost  as  much  as  the  conquered.  It  is  a  gulf  into  which 
all  the  streams  of  wealth  fall.  Ready  money,  that  principle  of  all  good 
and  every  evil,  raised  with  so  much  difficulty  in  the  provinces,  goes  into 
the  coffers  of  a  hundred  contractors  and  farmers  who  advance  the  funds, 

and  by  doing  so  purchase  the 
right  of  despoiling  the  nation 
in  the  name  of  the  sovereign. 
Consequently  private  indi- 
viduals, regarding  the  sovereign 
as  their  enemy,  conceal  their 
money,  and  the  kingdom  suffers 


by  the  loss  of  circulation. 

No  hasty  remedy  can 
supply  the  place  of  a  fixed  and 
lasting  arrangement  settled 
long  before,  and  which  provides 
in  anticipation  for  unforeseen 
wants.  The  poll-tax  was  im- 
posed in  1695.  It  was  repealed 
at  the  peace  of  Ryswick,  and 
subsequently  re-imposed.  The 
Comptroller-General  Pontchar- 
train  sold  patents  of  nobility 
for  two  thousand  crowns 
in  1696  ;  these  were  purchased 
by  five  hundred  individuals, 
but  the  resource  was  temporary, 
and  the  shame  was  permanent. 
All  the  nobles,  old  and  new 
alike,  were  compelled  to  register  their  armorial  bearings,  and  to  purchase 
permission  to  seal  their  letters  with  their  arms.  Tax-farmers  transacted 
that  affair  and  advanced  the  money.  The  Ministry,  hardly  ever  resorted 
to  any  but  these  small  resources  in  a  country  that'  could  have  furnished 
greater.  -/  sul  : 

The  "tenth"  was  not  imposed  until  the  year  1710.  .'But  this  tithe, 
levied  after  so  many  heavy  imposts,  seemed  so  hard  that*     fe'ôuld  not  be 


NSm  it  j.fU  A**  ùjCA&*£éyÂ4J%*  tue£2*rvcn  ******* 
%'  %i/4su  ewtnTJ  /.tSj,  S*ihj  xyi ,/£A**nj£*  Acer 

r*ist£*jt  t/r**fi  *t*£0**<ttit4  a*  Jsji  imrptf-*  V*>  Avp 


or  Â  Aj*r  à*  fyàutff*  utitJVâ. 
im-uxrr    j  jt  /Isiu/fij/tm  f*/fki*ij  *  mm.  tJTrœu 
*  JfoA  ?*ar*â£jt  jeijf  Qfr  <n>  i*'**d 

*********** 
■'>:--  ;  '<  ' .  "  •*•<■      ss-  Scut  J  A**  Itry.f  At* 
f%     A,  t  J .'. y<ZJ*  *M  '  ■ 

Jfoe  JZj*rtns  .t/aMtirrjf ?  >pi/fÀMj}rflut 
&A/  WJJ  <!t  *rwf  ?/?--Z*i  Ïmjtim.  //.dr.,    ft  > 

<i.  - 1.1  j         -  J  :■<..■..■.'     ,->  ■ 

Atytioet,  mm  Jf-c&lMu*  OXf*ÙÊMrj  rj,A*r*m.  » 


THE   FRENCH  PEASANT  FORCED  TO  GO  TO  THE  WAR. 
(A  Dutch  caricature.) 


A  FHACiMKNT  OF  A   FACE  OF  AN  ALMANAC  OF  THF  TIMF. 

(Cabinet  of  Prints.    Blblintluinip  Nationale,  Hennin  Collection.) 


PAPER-MONEY 


209 


rigorously  exacted.  The  Government  did  not  derive  from 
it  twenty-five  millions  annually,  at  forty  livres  the  marc. 

Colbert  had  but  slightly  changed  the  legal  value  of  the 
coins.  It  is  better  not  to  change  it  at  all.  Gold  and 
silver,  being  pledges  of  exchange,  should  be  invariable 
standards.  He  only  raised  the  legal  value  of  the  silver 
marc  from  the  twenty-six  livres,  at  which  he  found  it,  to 
twenty-seven  and  twenty-eight  •  and  after  him,  during 

J  J       °  °  (Upper  siilc  of  tUe  louis.) 

the  last  years  of  Louis  XIV.   that   denomination  was 
extended  to  forty — a  fatal  expedient  by  which  the  King  was  relieved  for 
a  moment  to  be  subsequently  ruined  ;  for  instead  of  receiving  a  full  marc, 
he  received  little  more  than  half.    The  debtor  to  the  extent  of  twenty-six 


THK   (IKIi.VT   THOMAS,    I'AlilSIAN   Ijl'.U'K   AND   DKNTIST  I 
HIS  TRIOMPHAL  PROGRESS  AMIDST  HIS  (iOOD  PEOPLE  OK  PARIS. 

(From  un  anonymous  etching  in  tlio  Bennln  Collection.) 


livres  paid  a  marc  in  L668,  but  the  debtor  in  1710  who  owed  forty  livres 
also  paid  very  little  over  a  marc,  intrinsically  worth  no  more  then  than 
formerly.  The  diminutions  that  followed  disturbed  the  little  commerce 
which  remained  as  much  as  the  augmentation  had  disturbed  it. 

A  resource  might  have  been  found  in  paper-money,  but  paper 
should  be  issued  in  a  time  of  prosperity,  to  be  available  in  a  time  of 
misfortune. 

The  Minister  (Chamillart)  began  to  make  payments  in  bills  in  170(>, 
and  as  that  paper-money  was  not  accepted  for  the  King's  own  coffers,  it  was 


270 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


discredited  almost  as  soon  as  introduced.  The  Minister  had  to  continue 
to  raise  heavy  loans,  consuming  thus  four  years  of  the  Crown  revenues  in 
anticipation. 

What  are  called  "extraordinary  affairs"  constantly  arose,  and  ridiculous 
posts,  always  purchased  l>y  those  who  wanted  to  escape  taxation,  were 


THE  GREAT  WINTER  OF  1709. 
(An  allegorical  print  of  the  period.) 


created.  The  taille  was  always  considered  a  degradation,  and  men  being 
born  vain,  the  bait  of  discharge  from  that  obligation  always  caught  dupes, 
and  the  considerable  salaries  attached  to  the  new  berths  were  an  induce- 
ment to  buy  them  in  bad  times,  for  want  of  reflection  that  they 
would  be  suppressed  in  better.  Thus  in  1707  the  dignity  of  Councillors 
of  the  King  was  invented  for  certain  wine-brokers  and  carriers,  and  that 
produced  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  livres.  Then  came  royal 
registrars,  sub-deputies  of  the  intendants  of  provinces,  comptrollers  of  the 


HARD  TIMES 


■27] 


State  timber-stacks  :  police- 
officers,  barber- wigmakers,  in- 
spectors of  fresh  and  testers 
of  salt  butter  were  made  coun- 
cillors. These  absurdities  make 
us  laugh  now,  they  drew  tears 
then  ! 

Comptroller-General  Des- 
marets,  the  nephew  of  the 
illustrious  Colbert,  having  suc- 
ceeded Chamillart  in  1708, 
could  not  cure  an  evil  which 
everything  rendered  incurable. 

Nature  conspired  with 
fortune  to  overwhelm  the  State. 
The  pitiless  winter  of  170(.) 
compelled  the  King  to  remit 
to  the  people  nine  millions  of 
taxes  at  a  time  when  he  had 
no  means  of  paying  his  soldiers  ; 
the  dearth  of  food  was  so 
great  that  it  cost  forty-five  millions  to  provision  the  army.  The  expen- 
diture of  the  year  1709  amounted  to  two  hundred  and  twenty-one  millions, 
and  the  ordinary  royal  revenue  produced  only  forty-four.  The  State  had 
to  be  ruined  to  prevent  its  enemies  from  becoming  its  masters.  The  disorder 
grew  so  rapidly  and  was  so  ill-repaired  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 

171T),  long  after  peace  had  been 
made,  the  King  was  obliged  to 
get  thirty-two  millions'  worth  of 
bills  negotiated  in  order  to  obtain 
eight  millions  in  cash.  At  his 
death  he  left  debts  to  the  amount 
of  two  milliards  six  hundred 
millions  at  twenty-eight  livres 
to  the  marc,  making  four  mil- 
liards five  hundred  millions  of 
our  current  coin  in  17G0. 


CAP  OF  THE  GREAT  THOMAS,  THF.  QUACK  OF  THF  PONT  NEUF, 
(From  a  print  of  the  period.) 


U  courte  VXTVOcSfB 


"LA  COURSE  DES  MITRONS, 
OR  MEN  OF  THE  PEOPLE  BEATEN  BY  THE   "GRANDS  SEIGNEURS  ' 
ON  THEIR  WAY  TO  THE  TOURNAMENT   AT  VERSAILLES. 
(Popular  caricature.) 


272  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

It  is  amazing,  but  it  is  true,  that  this  enormous  debt  would  not 
have  proved  an  insupportable  burden  had  there  been  at  the  time  a  thriving 
commerce,  a  settled  paper  credit,  and  substantial  companies  who  would 
have  taken  it  up,  as  in  Sweden,  England,  Venice  and  Holland  :  for 
when  a  powerful  State  is  debtor  only  to  itself,  confidence  and  circulation 
suffice  for  payment  ;  but  France  at  that  time  was  far  from  having  springs 

enough  to  move  so  vast  and 
so  complicated  a  machine  then 
crushing  her  by  its  weight. 

Louis  XIV.  spent  eighteen 
milliards  in  the  course  of  his 
reign  ;  this  represents  an  annual 
expenditure  of  three  hundred 
and  thirty  millions  if  we  allow 
for  the  fluctuation  of  the 
currency. 

Under  the  administration  of 
the  great  Colbert  the  ordinary 
revenues  of  the  Crown  amounted 
only  to  one  hundred  and  seven- 
teen millions,  at  twenty-seven 
livres  and  then  twenty-eight 
livres  to  the  silver  marc.  All 
the  surplus  was  supplied  by 
"  extraordinary  affairs."  Colbert, 
the  fashion  in  1678  :  LAD?  in  sHooTiNcs  oostume.  the  greatest  enemy  of  this  fatal 

(From  a  print  by  Honnait.) 

resource,  was  obliged  to  adopt 
it  for  prompt  use.  He  borrowed  eight  hundred  millions  at  the  present 
value  during  the  war  of  1672.  Very  little  of  the  ancient  domains  of  the 
Crown  now  remained  to  the  King.  They  are  declared  inalienable  by  all 
the  parliaments  of  the  kingdom,  nevertheless  they  are  almost  all  gone. 
The  King's  revenue  at  present  consists  of  that  of  his  subjects  ;  it  is  a 
perpetual  circulation  of  debts  and  payments.  The  King  owes  the  citizens 
more  millions  a  year,  under  the  name  of  "  Rentes  de  l'Hôtel  de  Ville,"  than 
any  sovereign  has  ever  derived  from  the  domains  of  the  Crown. 

To  attain  an  idea  of  this  prodigious  growth  of  taxes,  debt,  wealth, 
and  circulation,  and  at  the  same  time  of  the  embarrassments  and  hardship 


AFTER  COLBERT 


273 


CROWN  PIECE  OF  1705,  WITH 
INSIGNIA    (ÉCU  CARAMBOLÉ 
DE  FLANDRE). 


that  were  endured  in  France  and  other  countries,  we 
may  recall  the  fact  that  at  the  death  of  François  I. 
the  State  owed  thirty  thousand  livres  of  perpetual 
"rentes"  on  the  Hôtel  de  Ville,  and  that  it  owes 
at  present  more  than  forty-five  millions. 

They  who  have  compared  the  revenues  of  Louis 
XIV.  with  those  of  Louis  XV.  have  found  that, 
taking  into  account  only  the  fixed  and  current 
revenue,  Louis  XIV.  was  considerably  richer  in  1683, 
at  the  time  of  Colbert's  death, 
with  one  hundred  and  seventeen 
millions  of  revenue,  than  his 
successor  was  in  1730  with 
nearly  two  hundred  millions; 
and  this  is  considering  the 
fixed  and  ordinary  revenues 
of  the  Crown  only,  for  one 
hundred  and  seventeen  millions 
at  twenty-eight  livres  to  the 
marc  is  a  larger  sum  than  two 
hundred  millions  at  forty-nine 
livres  to  the  marc,  to  which  the 
King's  revenue  amounted  in 
1730.  Besides  and  beyond  this, 
the  charges  augmented  by  the 
loans  to  the  Crown  have  to  lie 
reckoned  ;  but  also  the  revenues 
of  the  King,  that  is  to  say,  of 
the  State,  have  increased  since 


3Gabib2'(Lrte, 


Pierenes . 

Je  point 


-ATancfveUts  doubttu 
Manteau  de  aa/ze 

hipe  de  points — — ^ 
<)'cngleter-re  <Sur 
osnjons  de  Gmteue; 


I  D  'Qnle//r  denatetrrn 


FASHION  IN  1678:  A  LADY  IN  SUMMER  DRESS  WITH 
A  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  COSTUME,   THE  FAN, 
AND  THE  CANE. 


CROWN  PIECE  OF  1709  WITH 
THREE  CROWNS  (OBVERSE). 


then  ;  and  the  knowledge  of  finance  has  made  .such 
an  advance  that,  in  the  ruinous  war  of  1741,  there 
was  not  a  moment  s  discredit.  A  sinking-fund  like 
that  of  the  English  was  adopted  :  it  was  necessary  to 
adopt  a  part  of  their  system  of  finance  as  well  as 
their  philosophy;  and  il'  those  circulating  papers, 
which  at  least  double  the  wealth  of  England,  could 
be  introduced  into  a  purely  monarchical  State,  the 

a  N 


274 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


French  administration  would  acquire  her  last  degree  of  perfection,  but 
perfection  too  close  in  a  monarchy  to  abuse. 

There  was  about  five  hundred  millions  of  coined  money  in  the  kingdom 
in  1683,  and  about  twelve  hundred  millions  in  1730,  according  to  present 
reckoning.  But  the  coin  under  the  ministry  of  Cardinal  de  Fleury  was 
almost  double  what  it  was  in  the  time  of  Colbert.  It  appears  then 
that  France  was  only  one-sixth  more  rich  in  current  coin  since  the  death  of 

Colbert.  Her  wealth  is  much 
more  largely  increased  in  point 
of  wrought  gold  and  silver 
employed  for  use  and  display. 
In  1690  there  was  not  four 
hundred  millions'  worth  of  our 
present  coinage,  and  in  1730 
there  was  the  same  amount  as 
the  specie  in  circulation. 
Nothing  shows  more  plainly 
how  commerce  increased  when 
its  channels,  which  the  wars  had 
closed,  were  opened.  Notwith- 
standing the  emigration  of  so 
many  artists  after  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
arts  and  crafts  were  brought 
to  perfection,  and  industry  in- 
creases every  day.  The  nation 
is  capable  of  things  as  great 
or  even  greater  than  were  done 
under  Louis  XIV.,  because  both  genius  and  commerce  always  thrive  by 
encouragement. 

Contemplating  the  comforts  of  private  life,  the  prodigious  number  of 
pleasant  residences  in  Paris  and  in  the  provinces,  the  number  of  equipages, 
the  conveniences  and  refinements  of  what  is  called  luxury,  one  might 
suppose  that  opulence  is  twenty-fold  greater  than  formerly.  All  this 
is  the  fruit  of  intelligent  industry  even  more  than  of  wealth.  It  costs 
little  more  to  be  comfortably  housed  to-day  than  it  did  to  be  indifferently 
housed  in   the  time  of  Henri  IV.     Fine  mirrors  of   home  manufacture 


FASHION  IN  1678  :    A  MAN  IN  WINTER  COSTUME. 
(Print  by  Bounart.) 


VOLTAIRE    ON    THE  PEASANT 


275 


adorn  our  houses  at  far  less  expense  than  the  little  mirrors  that  were 
brought  from  Venice.  Our  beautiful  and  becoming  stuff's  cost  less  than 
foreign  goods,  and  are  worth  more. 

It  is  not,  in  fact,  silver  and  gold  which  procure  the  comfort  of  life, 
it  is  ability,  genius.  A  people  who  should  have  nothing  but  those  metals 
would  be  very  poor;  a  people  who  without  those  metals  should  utilise  with 
success  all  the  products  of  the 
earth,  would  be  the  really  rich 
people.  France  has  this  ad- 
vantage, and  also  more  money 
than  is  wanted  for  circulation. 

Industry,  having  perfected 
itself  in  the  towns,  has  increased 
in  the  country.  There  will 
always  be  complaints  of  the  lot 
of  the  husbandmen.  We  hear 
these,  or  of  them,  in  every 
quarter  of  the  world,  and  they 
are  chiefly  uttered  by  opulent 
idlers  who  condemn  the  govern- 
ments more  than  they  pity  the 
peoples.  It  is  true  that  in 
almost  every  country,  if  those 
who  spend  their  days  in  rustic 
labour  had  leisure  to  murmur, 
they  would  rise  against  the 
exactions  which  deprive  them 
of  a  portion  of  their  substance. 
They  would  detest  the  necessity  of  paying  taxes  which  they  had  not 
imposed  upon  themselves,  and  that  of  bearing  the  burden  of  the  State 
without  participating  in  the  advantages  of  other  citizens.  It  is  not  the 
province  of  history  to  inquire  into  how  the  people  arc  to  contribute  without 
being  oppressed,  or  to  mark  the  precise  point  that  is  so  difficult  to  find, 
between  the  enforcement  and  the  abuse  of  law,  between  taxation  and 
plunder;  but  history  ought  to  show  that  it  is  impossible  for  a  town  to 
be  flourishing  unless  the  surrounding  country  is  well  off;  for  the  towns 
live  on  the  country. 


Tin:  VILLAGER  OB  PEASANT  WHO  IS  BORN  TO  LABOUR  :   "he  is 
DESPISED  AND  NECESSARY."     HIS  OBJECT     "TAX  PAID." 
(From  a  satirical  print  by  Guérard.) 


276 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Wine-growing  became  a  prosperous  branch  of  agricultural  industry.  New 
wines  formerly  unknown,  such  as  those  of  Champagne,  have  been  given 
colour,  body  and  strength,  equal  to  those  of  Burgundy,  and  sold  abroad  to 
great  advantage  :  this  increase  of  wines  has  produced  an  increase  of  brandies. 
The  culture  of  vegetables  and  of  fruit  has  been  immensely  extended,  and 
trade  in  provisions  with  the  American  colonies  has  been  augmented  thereby, 
and  the  complaints  of  the  poverty  of  the  country  parts  that  have  been 

urged  at  all  times  have  ceased 
to  be  well  founded.  Besides, 
in  these  vague  complainings, 
the  cultivators,  the  farmers, 
are  not  distinguished  from 
the  labourers.  The  latter  live 
by  the  work  of  their  hands  ; 
this  is  so  in  every  country 
of  the  world,  where  the  greater 
number  must  live  by  toil.  But 
there  is  no  kingdom  on  the 
earth  where  the  farmer,  the 
cultivator,  is  better  off  than  in 
some  of  the  provinces  of  France  ; 
only  England  can  dispute  this 
advantage  with  her.  Propor- 
tional, substituted  in  some 
provinces  for  arbitrary  taxation, 
has  also  contributed  to  the 
prosperity  of  cultivators  who 
own  plough-lands,  vineyards, 
gardens.  The  labourer,  the 
workman,  has  to  be  reduced  to  necessity  to  make  him  work  :  such  is 
the  nature  of  man.  This  majority  of  mankind  must  be  poor,  but  they 
must  not  necessarily  be  miserable. 

The  middle  class  have  enriched  themselves  by  industry.  Ministers  and 
courtiers  have  been  less  wealthy  because  money  has  numerically  increased 
by  nearly  one  half,  salaries  and  pensions  have  remained  the  same,  and  the 
price  of  provisions  has  risen  to  more  than  double  ;  this  has  happened  in  all 
the  countries  of  Europe.    Dues  and  ifees  are  still  on  the  old  scale  everywhere. 


LE  BICHON  POUDRE 

Homme  en  perruqueBiiine  oubl  onde 
Pense  de  e/ïarmer  tout  Je  m  onde 
Maisdeees  vains  cheveux  lamas  prodigieux 
Lcn é  noiraetab ace tp ou dréju  s  ci ue  s  aux  ux 
Sifor  lemascjue  et  denVure 
qubn  ne  conn  oit  plus  la  nature  ' 
Dans  sa  crmiere  blanche  enfle  comme  vn 

mancho3 


«  è  ne  semble  plus  quvn  Bichon 

J  *  i  bvecptra 


THE  POWDERED  PUG. 
(Satirical  print  ou  the  fashion  in  wigs.) 


VOLT ATRE    ON    THE  PEASANT 


277 


An  Elector,  when  he  is  invested  with  his  sovereignty,  pays  no  more  than 
his  predecessors  paid  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  at  that  ceremony  a  single  crown  piece  was  the 
fee  of  the  Emperor's  secretary. 

It    is    still   more  strange   that   while    everything    has  increased,  the 


L  . 


AN  INTKKIOlt  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  :    MAN  AND  WOMAN  IN  DÉSHABILLÉ. 

(From  un  anonymous  print  in  Ilennin's  Collection.) 

pay  of  the  soldier  remains  the  same  as  it  was  two  hundred  years  ago; 
five  sous  are  given  to  the  foot-soldier  as  in  the  time  of  Henri  1\.  Not 
one  of  this  multitude  of  ignorant  men,  who  sell  their  lives  so  cheaply, 
is  aware  that,  considering  the  rise  in  money  and  the  dearness  of  provisions, 
he  receives  less  by  about  two-thirds  than  the  soldiers  of  Henri  IV.  It 
he  knew  this,  if  he  demanded  pay  higher  by  two-thirds,  it  would  have  to 
be  given  to  him,  and  then  it  would  conic  to  pass  that  each  European  power 


278 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


would  maintain  troops  less  by  two-thirds  ;  the  forces  would  still  be  equally 
balanced,  and  agriculture  and  manufactures  would  benefit  by  the  change. 

It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  the  profits  of  commerce  having 
increased,  and  the  emoluments  of  all  the  great  offices  having  diminished 
in  value,  there  is  less  wealth  among  the  great  and  more  in  the  middle 
class,  and  this  has  put  less  distance  between  men.  Formerly  there 
was  no  resource  for  the  small  but  to  serve  the  great,  but  industry  has 
now  opened  a  thousand  roads  which  were  not  known  a  century  ago. 
Lastly,  however  the  finances  of  the  State  may  be  administered,  France 
possesses  an  inestimable  treasure  in  the  labour  of  nearly  twenty  millions 
of  her  inhabitants. 

This  conclusion,  as  well  as  the  passage  given  above  on  the  condition 
of  the  peasantry  in  the  seventeenth  century,  proves  that  Voltaire  had 
no  great  feeling  for  the  labouring  classes.  What  would  France  do 
in  the  event  of  financial  distress  or  bad  administration  if  they  did  not 
support  her  by  their  toil  ?  And  would  they  work  if  they  were  pros- 
perous ?    This  is  the  social  philosophy  of  a  contented  man. 

It  is  not  that  of  La  Bruyère  when  he  wrote  the  justly  celebrated 
passage  that  follows  :  "  Certain  wild  animals,  male  and  female,  are  to  be 
seen  in  country  places,  black,  livid,  sunburnt,  affixed  to  the  soil,  which 
they  dig  and  turn  over  with  invincible  persistence  ;  they  have  a  kind  of 
articulate  voice,  and  when  they  rise  on  their  feet  they  show  a  human 
face,  and,  in  fact,  they  are  men.  They  retire  at  night  into  dens  where 
they  live  on  black  bread,  water  and  roots  ;  they  save  other  men  the 
troulile  of  sowing,  toiling  and  reaping,  and  do  not  deserve  to  lack  that 
bread  which  they  have  sown." 

From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  reign,  contemporary  writers 
describe  and  deplore  the  misery  of  the  poor  classes.  Guy  Patin  writes, 
in  1G60  :  "There  is  a  project  for  fresh  taxation;  the  people  are  dying 
throughout  France  of  misery,  oppression,  want  and  despair." 

"  The  people  groaned,"  says  one  of  the  King's  magistrates  in  an  official 
speech,  "under  the  hands  of  the  extortioner  in  all  the  provinces,  and  it  seemed 
that  all  their  substance  and  their  own  blood  could  not  quench  the  burning 
thirst  of  the  tax-farmers.  The  misery  of  these  poor  people  is  almost  at 
the  last  extremity,  as  much  from  the  continuance  of  the  ills  they  have 


TUE    APPEAL    OF  SAINT-SIMON 


279 


suffered  for  so  long  as  from  the  dearness  of  food,  and  the  almost 
unheard-of  scarcity  of  the  last  two  years." 

In  1G80,  Madame  de  Sévigné,  being  struck  with  compassion,  writes 
on  behalf  of  the  peasants  :  "  I  see  only  people  who  owe  me  money  and 
have  not  bread,  who  sleep  upon  straw,  and  weep." 

At  the  end  of  the  reign,  and  owing  to  the  miseries  of  war,  the 
situation  became  worse.  Vauban  in  his  "Oisevetés"  remarks:  ''All  the 
poor  people  live  on  bread  made  of  oats  and  barley  mixed,  with  the  hran 
left  in  ;  one  might  lift  the  loaf 
by  the  oatstraws  that  are  left  in 
it.  The  mass  of  the  people  do  not 
eat  meat  three  times  a  year.  They 
are  also  crushed  by  the  loans  of 
corn  and  money  made  to  them  in 
their  need  by  moneyed  persons,  who 
extort  usurious  interest  from  them. 
Within  a  limited  space  there  are  five 
hundred  and  eleven  houses  in  ruins 
and  uninhabitable;  two  hundred  and 
forty-eight  empty,  seven  hundred 
and  fifty-nine  in  all  ;  which  is  nearly 
one-seventh  of  the  whole,  a  plain 
mark  of  the  decline  of  the  people.' 

They  do  not  only  suffer  :  they 
die.  And  Saint-Simon  says  this  to 
Louis  XIV.:  "Will  you  persevere,  Sire,  in  deafness?  Never  had  a  king 
fixed  revenues  equal  to  a  quarter  of  yours:  1  say  yours,  since  that 
augmentation  is  of  your  reign.  Never  did  king  create  so  much  debt  with 
so  little  security,  and  without  any  proportion  :  never  were  subjects  more 
faithful,  more  obedient,  more  submissive,  even  to  silence  from  words,  and  of 
thought  itself;  never  was  there  exhaustion  like  that  of  your  Majesty,  and 
of  all  your  State. 

"What  account  is  there  of  all  this  treasure  which  the  ministers  have 
made  you  spend,  and  that  has  reduced  you  by  dint  of  spending  to  seek  it 
in  the  very  bones  of  your  subjects,  whose  destitution  causes  the  fields  to 
lie  unfilled,  prevents  the  breeding  of  the  cattle,  and  leaves  nothing  for  the 
hard  tax-gatherers  but  the  remains  of  the  dilapidated  houses  from  which 


HO.MKI.V   MMI'l.lelTY   KKSTOItKI)  Til  Till:   111  IISKHI II. I)   MY  Till 

"  kacise  DE  hoi.  \  !  "  OB  Tin:  husbands'  stick. 
(Fragment  of  an  Almanac.) 


280 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


they  tear  the  timber  and  the  framework  to  sell  it  for  a  trifle.  These,  Sire, 
are  not  figments  and  exaggerations." 

In  1725,  Saint-Simon  put  a  similar  picture  before  Fleury.  Here  it 
is  :  "  In  Normandy  the  people  live  on  the  grass  of  the  fields.  I  speak 
in  secret  and  in  confidence  to  a  Frenchman,  to  a  bishop,  to  a  minister, 
to  the  only  man  who  appears  to  have  any  share  in  the  confidence  of 
the  King,  who  is  a  king  only  in  so  far  that  he  has  a  kingdom  and  has 


; 


FIELD  WORK. 

(From  the  picture  by  the  brothers  Le  Naiu,  Hay  Harvest. — Jlusée  ilu  Louvre.) 


subjects,  yet  is  of  an  age  to  be  able  to  feel  the  importance  of  this  matter, 
and  who,  although  he  is  the  first  king  in  Europe,  cannot  be  a  great  king 
if  he  be  king  only  of  beggars  of  all  conditions  and  if  his  kingdom  is 
turning  into  a  vast  hospital  of  dying  and  despairing  people." 

These  eloquent  appeals  have  met  in  our  time  with  incredulous  readers 
who  would  incline,  with  Voltaire,  to  draw  a  less  sombre  picture  of  the 
French  people.  The  indignation  of  Vauban  and  La  Bruyère  inspires  us, 
however,  with  more  confidence  than  the  complacent  philosophy  of  the 
author  of  "  Le  Siècle  de  Louis  XIV." 


PBIEZB  IN  GILT  STUCCO  FROM  THE  8AJLON  DE  l'œIL-DE-BŒI  K. 
(Clmteaujle  Versailles—  Carving  by  Van  ('lève.) 


I 

SCI ENCES 


T 


'HIS  favoured  century,  which  witnessed 
the  birth  of  a  revolution  in  the 
human  mind,  did  not  seem  destined  to 
such  fortune.  To  begin  with  philosophy, 
there  was  no  appearanee  in  the  time  of 
Louis  XIII.  that  it  would  extricate  itself 
from  chaos.  The  Inquisition  in  Italv,  in 
Spain,  and  in  Portugal,  had  bound  up 
philosophic  errors  with  the  dogmas  of 
religion  :  the  civil  wars  in  France,  and  the 
quarrels  of  Calvinism,  were  not  more  likely 
to  cultivate  human  reason  than  was  the 
fanaticism  of  Cromwell's  time  in  England. 

Lord  Bacon  had  shown  the  way  to  science  from  afar;  Galileo  had 
discovered  the  laws  of  falling  bodies;  Torricelli  had  begun  to  know  the 
weight  of  the  air  that  surrounds  us  ;  some  experiments  had  heen  made  at 
Magdeburg.  Nevertheless  the  schools  and  the  world  were  alike  in  ignorance. 
Then  came  Descartes;  he  did  the  very  contrary  of  what  ought  to  be 
done  :  instead  of  studving  nature  he  guessed  at  it.     lie  was  the  greatest 


ORNAMENTED  LETTER. 
(By  François  Chuuveau.) 


284 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


geometrician  of  his  time  ;  but  geometry  leaves  the  mind  as  it  rinds  it. 
Descartes  was  too  much  inclined  to  invention  ;  the  first  among  mathema- 
ticians produced  romances  of  philosophy  only.  A  man  who  disdained 
experiments,  who  never  quoted  Galileo,  one  who  would  build  without 
materials,  could  raise  none  but  an  imaginary  edifice. 

The  romantic  portion  of  his  system  succeeded,  and  the  little  truth  there 
was  in  his  new  notions  was  at  first  contested.     But  at  length  that  little 

truth  did  prevail,  owing  to  the 
method  he  had  introduced  :  for 
before  him  there  was  no  clue  to 
this  labyrinth,  and  he  at  least 
gave  one,  which  others  used 
after  he  himself  had  gone  astray. 
It  was  important  that  the 
delusions  of  peripateticism 
should  be  destroyed,  even  by 
other  delusions. 

These  two  phantoms  fought  ; 
the  one  fell  after  the  other,  and 
reason  at  last  arose  upon  their 
ruins.  In  that  fatherland  of 
the  arts,  the  "  Academia  del 
Cimento"  which  Cardinal 
Léopoldo  de'  Médici  had  founded 
about  1655  at  Florence,  it  was 
already  felt  that  the  great 
edifice  of  Nature  could  only  be 
understood  by  examining  it 
piece  by  piece.  This  Academy  rendered  great  services  after  Galileo  and 
from  the  time  of  Torrieelli. 

A  few  philosophers  in  England,  under  the  austere  administration  of 
Cromwell,  met  together  to  seek  for  truths  in  peace,  while  fanaticism 
was  oppressing  all  truth.  Charles  IL,  who  had  been  restored  to  the  throne 
of  his  ancestors,  granted  letters  patent  to  this  infant  Academy,  but  that 
was  all  the  Government  gave.  The  Koyal  Society,  or  rather  the  free 
Society  of  London,  worked  for  the  honour  of  working.  From  its  bosom 
in  our  own  day  have  proceeded  discoveries  respecting  geometry,  light, 


PORTRAIT  OP  DESCARTES  BY  S.  BOURDON. 

(Musée  du  Louvre.) 


THE    ACADEMY    OF  SCIENCES 


285 


the  principle  of  gravitation,  the  aberration  of  the  fixed  stars,  and  many 
others  which  might  entitle  this  to  be  called  "the  century  of  the  English" 
as  well  as  that  of  Louis  XIV. 

In  1666,  M.  Colbert,  jealous  of  that  rising  fame,  desired  that 
France  should  share  it  ;  and,  upon  the  petition  of  certain  savants,  he  got 
Louis   XIV.   to  sanction   the  establishment  of  an  Academy   of  Sciences. 

J 

This  was  free  until  1699,  like  the  Royal  Society  of  London  and  the 
Académie  Française.  Colbert 
brought  Domenieo  Cassini  from 
Italy,  Huygens  from  Holland, 
and  Roemer  from  Denmark  by 
large  salaries.  Roëmer  deter- 
mined  the  velocity  of  the  sun's 
rays,  Huygens  discovered  the 
ring  of  Saturn  and  one  of 
his  satellites,  and  Cassini  dis- 
covered the  other  four.  Huy- 
gens, though  he  was  not 
actually  the  inventor  of  pen- 
dulum-clocks, defined  the  true 
principles  of  the  regularity  of 
their  movements  —  principles 
which  he  had  deduced  from  his 
profound  study  of  geometry. 

Previous  systems  were 
now  discarded,  and  information 
on  all  the  parts  of  physical 
science  was  gradually  attained. 
The  public  was  astonished  with 
a  chemistry  which  did  not  seek  the  philosopher's  stone  or  the  elixir  of  life, 
astronomy  which  did  not  predict  future  events,  and  medicine  independent 
of  the  phases  of  the  moon.  Corruption  was  no  longer  the  mother  oi 
animals  and  of  plants.  There  were  no  more  prodigies,  so  soon  as  Nature  was 
better  known,  and  she  was  being  studied  in  all  her  productions. 

Geography  made  startling  advances.  Louis  XIV.  had  no  sooner  built 
the  Observatoire  than  he  set  Domenieo  Cassini  and  Picard  to  work  in  1669 
upon  a  meridian  line.    This  was  continued  northwards  by  Lahire  in  L683, 


LOUIS  XIV.  VISITING  THE  MUSEUM  OK  XATUHAL  HISTORY  AM) 
THE  ACADEMY  OF  SCIKNCES. 
(Krnui  an  engraving  by  Sébastien  Lecleic) 


286 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


and  was  finally  prolonged  by  Cassini  in  1700  to  the  extremity  of 
Roussillon.  It  is  the  finest  astronomical  monument,  and  might  suffice  to 
immortalise  the  century. 

In  1672  physicists  were  sent  to  Cayenne  to  make  observations.  This 
voyage  was  the  origin  of  our  knowledge  of  the  depression  of  the  earth  at 
the  poles  :  this  was  afterwards  demonstrated  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and  it 
led  to  those  more  famous  voyages  which  did  such  honour  to  the  reign  of 

Louis  XIV. 

Tournefort  was  despatched 
to  the  East  in  1700  to  collect 
plants  for  the  Jardin  Royal 
(Jardin  des  Plantes),  which  had 
been  completely  neglected,  but 
was  restored,  and  is  now  an 
object  of  curiosity  to  Europe. 
The  Bibliothèque  Royale, 
already  extensive,  received  an 
addition  of  thirty  thousand 
volumes  under  Louis  XIV.  ; 
and  this  example  has  been  so 
faithfully  followed  that  the 
number  of  volumes  is  now 
over  one  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand.  The  King  re-opened 
the  School  of  Law  which  had 
been  closed  for  a  century,  and 
he  established  a  professor  of  French  law  in  all  the  universities. 

In  his  reign  newspapers  came  into  existence,  Le  Journal  des  Savants, 
first  published  in  1665,  was  the  parent  of  all  the  works  of  this  kind  which 
now  abound  in  Europe. 

The  Académie  des  Belles-lettres,  originally  founded  in  1663  by  a  few 
members  of  the  Académie  Française,  for  the  purpose  of  transmitting  the 
actions  of  Louis  XIV.  to  posterity  by  medals,  became  useful  to  the  public 
so  soon  as  it  ceased  to  be  exclusively  occupied  with  the  monarch,  and 
applied  itself  to  antiquarian  research  and  judicious  criticism  of  opinions 
and  facts.  It  did  almost  the  same  for  history  as  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
did  for  physics — it  dispelled  error. 


GIOVANNI  DOMENICO  CASSINI  (1625-1712). 
(From  an  engraving  by  Cossin.) 


SUPERSTITION    AND    ITS  DECREASE 


287 


The  spirit  of  wisdom  and  criticism  which 
spread  from  one  to  another  insensibly  destroyed 
a  great  deal  of  superstition.  In  l<\7'2  the  King 
prohibited  the  courts  from  admitting  mere 
aceusations  of  sorcery.  Henri  IV.  or  Louis  XIII. 
would  not  have  ventured  to  do  this,  and 
although  subsequently  to  1672  charges  of  witch- 
craft have  been  brought  before  the  judges,  they 
have  generally  condemned  the  accused  only  as 
guilty  of  profanity  and  the  employment  of 
poison. 

It  was  formerly  a  common  practice  to  put 
sorcerers  to  the  test  by  throwing  them,  bound  with  ropes,  into  the  water: 
if  they  floated,  they  were  convicted.    Several  provincial  judges  had  ordered 


MEDAL   COMMEMORATIVE   OF  THE 
FOUNDATION  OF  THE  ACADEMY  OF 
INSCRIPTIONS  AND  MEDALS  : 
"  RKRl'M  OKSTARl'M  FIDF.S." 


these  ordeals,  and  the  practice  subsisted  for  a  long  time  among  the  people. 
Every  shepherd  was  a  sorcerer,  and  amulets  and  constellation-rings  were  in 
use  in  the  towns.  That  water-springs,  treasure  or  thieves  were  discovered 
by  the  divining-rod,  was  considered  certain,  and  is  still  believed  in  more 
than  one  German  province.  Almost  everyone  had  his  horoscope  drawn; 
magic  secrets  were  the  common  talk.  Scholars  and  magistrates  had  written 
seriously  on  these  matters;  a  class  of  demonographers  was  admitted 
among  authors.  There  were  rules  for  discerning  true  magicians  and  those 
who  were  really  possessed. 


288 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Superstitious  ideas  were  so  deeply  rooted  in  the  people  that  they  were 
frightened  by  comets,  even  in  1G80,  and  few  had  courage  to  oppose  the 
popular  credulity.  Jacques  Bernoulli,  one  of  the  great  mathematicians  of 
Europe,  in  refuting  popular  notions  respecting  the  comet  of  that  year, 
argued  that  the  coma  of  the  comet,  because  it  is  eternal,  could  not  be  a 
sign  of  the  Divine  wrath,  but  that  the  tail  might  be.  And  yet  neither 
the  tail  nor  the  head  is  eternal.  Bayle  wrote  a  book  against  the  popular 
prejudice  ;  but  the  progress  of  reason  has  deprived  it  of  its  piquancy. 

Although   kings  have  no  reason  to  be  obliged  to   philosophers,  it 

is  true  that  the  philosophic  spirit  which 
has  gained  access  to  all  conditions  of  men 
except  the  lowest,  contributes  to  uphold 
the  rights  of  sovereigns.  Quarrels 
which  might  formerly  have  led  to 
excommunications,  interdicts,  and 
schisms,  have  not  done  so.    It  has 
been  said  that  nations  would  be  happier  if 
they  had  philosophers  for  kings,  but  it  may 
also  be  said  that  kings  are  better  off  when 
they  have  philosophers  for  subjects. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  reason- 
able spirit  which  was  beginning  to  preside 
over  education  in  the  great  towns  was 
unable  to  control  the  fury  of  the  fanatics  of  the  Cévennes,  or  the  violence 
of  the  mob  around  a  tomb  at  Saiut-Médard  ;  neither  did  it  calm  the 
frivolous  disputes  between  obstinate  men  who  ought  to  have  been  wise. 
But  before  this  century  those  disputes  would  -have  caused  troubles  in  the 
State  ;  the  miracles  of  Saint-Médard  would  have  been  believed  by  the  most 
respectable  citizens,  and  fanaticism,  which  was  happily  confined  to  the 
mountains  of  the  Cévennes,  would  have  extended  to  the  towns. 

All  kinds  of  science  and  literature  have  been  exhausted  in  this 
century,  and  so  many  writers  have  enlarged  the  bounds  of  knowledge 
that  those  who  in  other  times  would  have  passed  for  prodigies  have  been 
lost  in  the  crowd.  Their  fame  is  little,  and  the  fame  of  the  century  is 
great,  because  of  their  number. 


A  LITTER  OF  RATS  TIED  BY  THE  TAIL. 

(A  great  wouder  that  occurred  in  Germany  iu  1636,  and  is 
accredited  by  a  popular  print.) 


THE    EULOdY    OF  VOLTAIRE 


L\S<) 


In  giving  the  sciences  the  foremost  place  in  this  picture  of  the 
progress  of  the  French  mind  during  the  seventeenth  century,  we  have 
respeeted  the  order  that  was  adopted  by  Voltaire.  That  order,  as  he 
acknowledges,  is  not  favourable  to  the  true  perspective  of  the  epoch. 

He  adopted  it  because  he  was  especially  anxious  to  trace  the  elements 
of  modern  thought  in  the  Great  Century  in  describing  its  successor. 
For  Voltaire,  as  to  d'Alembert,  sciences  and  philosophy  united,  and  the 
spirit  of  criticism  and  research  awoke 
humanity  from  a  long  lethargy  at  the 
close  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  "A 
light  is  shining  that  did  not  enlighten 
our  forefathers."  In  their  eagerness  to 
salute  the  dawn  of  that  new  era,  to  exalt 
Gassendi,  Bayle  and  Fontenelle,  the  men 
of  the  eighteenth  century  exaggerated 
the  darkness  that  had  preeeded  it. 

Voltaire  perhaps,  like  the  others, 
has  overstated  the  facts  ;  but  his  ad- 
miration for  the  achievements  of  his 
own  age  lias  not  made  him  unjust  for 
a,  single  instant  towards  the  G  real 
(  lentury: 

None  have  enjoyed  and  praised  the  literary  and  artistic  works  oi  the 
contemporaries  of  Louis  XIV.  more  than  Voltaire.  He  was  largo-minded 
enough  to  appreciate  how  widely  they  had  extended  the  sphere  oi  the 
French  intellect.  We  shall  see  with  what  vivid  perception  and  Hue 
emotion  he  afterwards  speaks  of  the  other  lights  of  literature  and  the 
arts  in  the  reign  of  the  great  King. 


1 1 

LITERATU  R  E 

QOUND  philosophy  did  not  make  so  great 
^  progress  is  France  as  in  England  or 
at  Florence;  and  although  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  rendered  services  to  mankind  in 
general,  it  did  not  put  France  above  other 
nations.  All  the  great  inventions  and  all 
the  great  truths  came  from  elsewhere. 

But,  in  eloquence,  in  poetry,  in  litera- 
ture, in  works  on  morals,  and  in  fiction  and 
entertainment,  the  French  were  the  legislators 

ORNAMENTAL  LETTER  BV  FR.  CHAUTEAU.  ° 

(I'or  Hip  Collpction  of  f'tittrfex  tie  têtes  et  tie  htit/tte*,      of    K  urope.     Taste  existed  no  longer  in  Italy, 
of  the  imprimerie  Royale.)  J 

Tine   eloquence   was   unknown  anywhere; 
religion  was  ill-taught  in  the  pulpit,  and  causes  were  ill-pleaded  at  the  bar. 

Preachers  quoted  Virgil  and  Ovid;  lawyers  Saint  Augustine  and 
Saint  -Jerome.  The  genius  who  should  give  grace,  rhythm,  propriety  uf 
style  and  dignity  to  the  French  language,  had  not  yet  appeared.  Some 
verses  of  Malherbe  made  it  felt  that  the  language  was  capable  of  grandeur 
and  force  ;  but  that  was  all.  The  same  gifted  men  who  had  written 
very  well  in  Latin,  for  instance  President  De  Thou,  a  Chancellor  of  the 
Hospital,  failed  when  the)-  handled  their  <>wn  rebellious  language.  French 
was   not    yet    commendable    except    for   a    certain    piquancy    which  had 


292 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


constituted  the  sole  merit  of  Joinville,  Amyot,  Marot,  Montaigne,  Régnier, 
of  "  La  Satire  Ménippée." 

The  first  orator  who  spoke  in  the  grand  style  was  Jean  de  Lingendes, 
Bishop  of  Macon  :  he  is  now  forgotten  because  he  never  had  his  works 
printed.  His  sermons  and  his  funeral  orations,  though  they  were  not  free 
from  the  defects  of  his  time,  were  the  model  of  orators  who  imitated  and 
surpassed  him.  The  funeral  oration  in  1630  on  Charles  Emmanuel,  Duke 
of  Savoy,  surnamed  in  his  own  country  "  the  Great,"  which  the  Bishop 
delivered,  was  so  finely  eloquent  that  Fléchier  long  afterwards  took  the 
entire  exordium,  as  well  as  the  text  and  several  striking  passages,  and 
used  them  in  his  oration  at  the  funeral  of  the  Vicomte  de  Turenne. 

Balzac  gave  variety  and  har- 
mony to  prose  about  the  same 
time.  It  is  true  that  his  letters 
were  bombastic  harangues  ;  he 
wrote  to  the  Cardinal  de  Retz  : 
"  You  have  just  assumed  the 
sceptre  of  kings  with  the 
colours  of  roses."  Notwith- 
standing this  fault  he  charmed 
the  ear.  Eloquence  has  such 
power  over  men  that  Balzac  was  admired  in  his  day  for  having  discovered 
the  art  of  choosing  words  harmoniously,  and  indeed  for  having  frequently 
used  it  out  of  place. 

Voiture  gives  some  idea  of  the  light  graces  of  this  epistolary  style, 
which  is  not  the  best,  being  mainly  jesting.  His  letters  are  mere 
buffoonery  ;  in  the  two  volumes  not  one  instructive  letter  is  to  be  found, 
not  one  that  comes  from  the  heart,  not  one  that  paints  the  manners  of 
the  times  and  the  characters  of  men.  This  is  abuse  rather  than  use 
of  wit. 

The  language  was  now  becoming  more  refined,  and  taking  a  permanent 
form.  This  was  due  to  the  Académie  Française,  and  especially  to 
Vaugelas.  His  "Traduction  de  Quinte-Curce,"  which  appeared  in  1646, 
was  the  first  book  written  in  a  good  style,  and  only  a  few  of  his 
expressions  are  now  out  of  date. 

Olivier  Patru,  who  came  immediately  after  him,  did  much  to  refine 
the   language  ;    and   although   he   did    not  pass  for  a  profound  lawyer, 


A  SITTINO  Oh'  THK   ACADEMIE  FRANÇAISE   RECENTLY  INSTALLED 
AT  THE  LOUVRE. 


THE    FAMOUS  .MAXIMS 


293 


such  order,  perspicuity,  propriety,  and  elegance  of  speech  as  his  were 
previously  absolutely  unknown  at  the  bar. 

The  little  collection  of  the  Maxims  by  Francois,  Duc  de  la  Roche- 
foucauld, contributed  largely  to  form  the  style  of  the  language  and  to 
give  it  terseness  and  precision.  Although  the  one  truth,  that  selfishness 
is  the  motive  of  everything,  is  almost  the  only  truth  is  this  book,  the 
thought  is  presented  under  so  many  different  aspects  that  it  rarely  fails 
to  be  attractive.  It  is  not  so  much  a  book  as  material  for  the  ornamenting 
of  a  book.  This  little  collection  was 
eagerly  read  ;  it  accustomed  its  leaders  to 
think,  and  to  cast  their  thoughts  into  a 
precise,  refined  and  expressive  form.  This 
bad  never  been  done  by  anybody  before 
the  Duc  de  la  Rochefoucauld,  since  the 
revival  of  letters  in  Europe. 

But  the  first  prose  work  of  genius  was 
Pascal's  "  Lettres  Provinciales,"'  published 
in  1656.  Every  sort  of  eloquence  is  to 
be  found  in  that.  Not  a  single  word  in  it 
has  been  affected  in  a  hundred  years  bv 
the  alteration  that  often  occurs  in  living 
languages.  This  work  fixed  the  standard 
of  the  language.  The  Bishop  of  Luçon, 
son  of  the  famous  Bussv,  told  me  that 
when  he  asked  the  Bishop  of  Mcaux  what  work  he  would  have  best  liked 
to  have  written,  if  he  had  not  written  his  own,  Bossuet  replied,  "The 
'Lettres  Provinciales.'"  They  lost  much  of  their  point  when  the  Jesuits 
were  abolished,  and  the  subjects  of  their  disputes  fell  into  oblivion. 

The  good  taste  that  reigns  throughout  this  book  and  the  vigour  of 
the  later  letters  did  not  at  lirst  avail  to  correct  diffuseness,  incorrectness 
and  slovenliness  of  style  in  authors,  preachers,  and  lawyers. 

L'ère  Bourdaloue  was  the  first  of  the  new  great  preachers.  He 
brought  eloquence  and  reason  together  in  the  pulpit  in  1668.  lie  was  a 
new  light.  lie  was  succeeded  bv  other  pulpit  orators,  such  as  l'ère 
Massillon,  Bishop  of  ('lermont,  who  spoke  with  greater  grace  than  he,  and 
depicted  the  manners  of  the  age  with  liner  precision:  but  he  has  never 
been  forgotten.    His  style  was  strong  rather  than  florid,  there  was  nothing 


294 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


imaginative  in  it  ;  he  desired  to  convince  rather  than  to  touch  his  hearers, 
and  never  sought  to  please. 

He  had  been  preceded  by  Bossuet,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Meaux. 
The  latter,  who  became  so  great  a  man,  was  betrothed  while  quite  a 
youth  to  Mademoiselle  Desvieux,  an  admirable  young  lady.  His  taste 
and  talent  for  theological  studies,  and  his  gift  of  eloquence  manifested 
themselves  so  early,  that  his  relations  and  friends  induced  him  to  devote 
himself  to  the  Church.     Mademoiselle  Desvieux  herself  urged  him  to  this 

decision,  and  was  consoled  by 
RONDEAV  'her  prevision  of  the  fame  that 

AVX   RR.  PF  IESVITES,  awaited  him. 

Sur  leur  Morale  accommodante.  He  was  still  young  when 

'Eme^-voui,  pnhe^,  iaddrejfe  fans  féconde  he  preached  before  the  King 

' De  U  trouvpefameufe  en  Efolars  fécond^  r\  ii  t  rrr> 

*Nous  Uijfe  -vos  douceurs  funs  leur  mortel  vemrur  and  tllC  Queen-mother  in  1662, 

Onles  goufte  fans  crime  ,  &  ce  nouueau  cliemtru  W      hefore     fiourdaloue  Was 

zyMrine  Jans  peine  an  net  dans  vne  paix  profonde. 

known.      His  sermons,  which 

L'cnfery  peril  fes  droits,  &  f  le  diable  en  rrvnde^r  n       ,      ,  , 

On  n'aura  qu-à  Ly  dire  ■  c^ftr,  tftrit  immonde  were  made  doubly  impressive 

2>,,,rBauny,  Sanchez ,  Caltro,  Cans ,  Tambourin  ,  }      dignified  and  noble  gesture, 

were   the  first  with  any  ap- 

tM*»»o.Pem  flatteurs,  fot  qui  fur  <vousfe  fonder» 

Car  I  jutcur  inconnu  qui  par  Lettres  vous  fronde,  proacll     to     the     Sublime  that 

De  noflre  Politique  a  de'comttrt  le  fin_>*  i     1    i_          r       j          n  i 

Vos  proUMitet  font  proches  de  leur  fiL,  lmd    beeD               &t  C°Urt'  and 

Onenejireutnui  cherche^»  Netscaa  Mo*L;  so   great  Was  their  SUCCeSS  that 
AetirtT^VOttf,  ° 

the  Kino;  had  a  letter  sent  in 

A  RONDEAU  TO  THE  JESUIT  FATHERS.  ,   .  ,1  i  , 

his   name    to    the  preachers 

Placed  at  the  end  of  the  Introduction  to  one  of  the  early  editions  J- 

of  the  Lettres  Provinciales  (Cologne,  1657).  father,    wllO    Was    intendant  of 

Soissons,  to  congratulate  him  on  possessing  such  a  son. 

When  Bourdaloue  appeared,  Bossuet  could  no  longer  rank  as  the 
foremost  preacher.  He  was  already  famous  for  his  funeral  sermons,  and 
had  been  rewarded  with  the  bishopric  of  Condom  for  his  oration  at  the 
burial  of  Anne  of  Austria.  That  discourse  was  not  quite  worthy  of  him  ; 
it  was  not  printed,  nor  were  his  ordinary  sermons.  His  funeral  panegyric 
on  the  Queen-Dowager  of  England,  widow  of  Charles  L,  in  1669,  was  in 
almost  every  respect  a  masterpiece.  The  interest  of  these  displays  of 
eloquence  is  in  proportion  to  the  misfortunes  which  have  marked  the 
lives  of  the  subjects  of  them.  It  is  the  same  in  the  case  of  tragedies  ; 
the  growing  interest  attaches  to  the  accumulating  woes  of  the  leading 
personages.     His  funeral  panegyric  on  Madame,  who  died  in  her  prime, 


BOSSU  ET 


295 


and  with  him  by  her  side,  achieved  the  greatest  and  more  rare  of  triumphs  ; 
it  made  the  Court  weep!  He  was  obliged  to  stop  after  he  uttered  the 
famous  words;  "  0  nuit  désastreuse!  nuit  effroyable,  où  retentit  tout  à 
coup,  comme  un  éclat  de  tonnerre,  cette  étonnante  nouvelle  :  Madame  se 
meurt,  Madame  est  morte  !  "  The  voice  of  the  orator  was  lost  in  the 
sobs  of  his  hearers. 

The  French  were  the  only 
people  who  produced  this 
kind  of  eloquence.  Some  time 
afterwards  Bossuet  invented  a 
new  kind,  and  it  succeeded 
because  it  was  his.  He  applied 
the  art  of  oratory  to  history, 
which  seems  to  exclude  it,  I  Lis 
"  Discours  sur  l'histoire  Univer- 
selle," composed  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  Dauphin,  had  no 
model,  and  found  no  imitators. 
His  method  of  reconciling  the 
chronology  of  the  Jews  with 
that  of  the  other  nations  lias 
been  challenged  by  suçants; 
but  his  style  has  only  admirers. 
The  majestic  power  of  liis 
description  of  the  manners, 
the  government,  the  growth 
and  the  fall  of  great  empires 
astonished  everybody,  and  the 
courageous  truthfulness  with  which  he  depicts  and  judges  the  nations 
deepened  that  impression. 

Almost  all  the  works  which  did  honour  to  the  century  were  of  a 
kind  unknown  to  antiquity.  "Télémaque"  is  of  this  number.  Fénelon,  the 
disciple  and  friend  of  Bossuet,  and  who  afterwards,  in  spite  of  himself, 
became  his  rival  and  his  foe,  composed  this  singular  book,  which  is  half 
romance  and  half  poem,  and  substitutes  a  cadenced  prose  for  verse.  In 
"Télémaque"  Fenelon  purposed  to  treat  romance  as  Bossuet  had  treated 
history,  by  giving  it  charm  and  dignity  hitherto  unknown,  and  especially 


296 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


by  investing  it  with  a  moral  utility  to  human  nature  that  never  had  been 
previously  attempted.  It  was  believed  that  he  had  written  "  Télémaque  " 
for  the  instruction  of  the  Duc  de  Bouroooue,  and  the  other  children  of 
France,  as  Bossuet  had  written  his  "  Histoire  Universelle"  for  the  instruction 
of  Monseigneur  (the  Grand  Dauphin)  ;  but  his  nephew,  the  Marquis  de 
Fe'nelon,  the  inheritor  of  his  uncle's  virtues,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle 

of  Recoux,  assured  me  that 
this  was  not  the  case. 

The  book  was  not  written 
until  after  his  retirement  to 
Cambray.  He  was  deeply  read 
in  classic  literature  ;  his  im- 
agination was  both  vivid  and 
tender  ;  he  made  a  style  which 
was  his  only  and  flowed  in 
unchecked  abundance  from  its 
source.  I  have  seen  the  original 
manuscript  ;  it  does  not  contain 
ten  erasures.  He  completed  it 
in  three  months  in  the  midst 
of  the  unhappy  disputes  on 
Quietism,  little  thinking  how 
far  superior  to  his  occupations 
this  recreation  was.  It  is  said 
that  a  servant  stole  a  copy 
and  had  it  printed.  If  this  be 
so,  the  Archbishop  of  Cambray 
owed  to  that  theft  all  the 
reputation  he  had  in  Europe,  but  his  irretrievable  ruin  with  the  Court 
was  also  due  to  it. 

It  was  believed  that  "  Télémaque  "  was  an  indirect  criticism  on  the 
government  of  Louis  XIV.  Sesostris,  who  was  too  ostentatious  in  his 
triumph,  and  Idomeneus,  who  made  Salentum  luxurious,  but  forgot  the 
necessaries  of  life,  were  taken  to  be  portraits  of  the  King,  although  after 
all  it  requires  the  arts  which  produce  the  first  necessities-  to  procure  the 
superfluous  by  their  superabundance.  To  the  eye  of.  the  malcontents 
the  Marquis  de  Louvois  was  represented  under  the  name  of  Protesilaus, 


J.  B.  BOSSUET  AT  THE  AGE  OF  SEVENTY-TWO. 
(From  the  original  by  Rigaud,  eugraveil  by  Sarrabat.) 


"T  ELK. M  AnrK" 


207 


the  vain,  stern  and  haughty  enemy  of  the  great  captains  who  served  the 
State  and  not  the  minister. 

The  allies  who  combined  against  Louis  XIV.  in  the  war  of  1G88,  and 
who  afterwards  shook  his  power  in  the  war  of  1701,  were  delighted  to 
recognise  him  in  this  same 
Idomeneus  whose  arrogance 
alienated  all  his  neighbours. 
These  allusions  made  a  pro- 
found impression,  because  of 
the  harmonious  style  that  so 
gently  persuades  to  moderation 
and  peace.  Foreigners  and  even 
Frenchmen,  weary  of  war,  dis- 
covered a  satire,  in  a  hook- 
written  to  inculcate  all  the 
virtues,  with  mischievous  satis- 
faction. A  great  number  of 
editions  were  published.  I  have 
seen  fourteen  in  English.  After 
the  death  of  the  monarch  who 
was  so  much  feared,  envied  and 
respected  by  all,  so  much  hated 
by  some,  and  when  human 
malignity  ceased  to  revel  in 
allusions  which  were  supposed 
to  censure  his  conduct,  a  more 
stern  court  of  opinion  judged 
"Télémaque"  severely  enough, 
blaming  the  work  for  prolixity, 
detail,  want  of  cohesion,  and 
also  for  repetition  and  the 
monotony  of  the  scenes  of 
rural  life;  nevertheless,  "  Télémaij  ue  "  has  always  been  Legarded  as  one  of 
the  glories  of  a  resplendent  age. 

"  Les  Caractères,"  by  La  Bruyère,  is  also  a  work  that  stands  alone. 
Its  style,  fluent,  concise,  vigorous,  its  picturesque  phrases  and  novel  use  of 
the  language,  without  violation   of  its  rules,  struck  the   public,  and  the 

2  Q 


IP 


'It.iJlU.i 


ilcllli  .  ..«Udurfwt 


UsCC/ucbar  de-tc.rftrncniu-  titty  in  ccn>-pt\  Tti  rTijur/t 
t    J.T  rrifJrniAar  in  munJatu-'-tttLs-^it.  m 


BODRDALOOE  AT  prater. 
(From  the  painting  by  Joiivenct,  eugraveil  by  Hiissler.) 


298 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


transparent  allusions  secured  its  success.  When  La  Bruyère  showed  his 
manuscript  to  M.  de  Malézieu,  the  latter  said  :  "  This  is  certain  to 
bring  you  many  readers  and  also  many  enemies."  The  work  ceased 
to  be  rated  so  highly  when  the  entire  generation  it  had  attacked  had 

passed   away.      Nevertheless,  as 
it  treats  of  matters  that  are  for 
all   time    and   all   places,  it  is 
not  likely  ever  to  be  forgotten. 
"  Télémaque  "     has     had  some 
imitators;  "Les  Caractères"  has 
had   more.     It  is   easier   to  oive 
pictures  in  little  of  things  that  strike 
us,  than  to  produce  a  long  work 
of  imagination  which  pleases  while 
it  instructs. 

The  delicate  art  of  imparting 
grace  to  philosophy  was  new.  "  Les 
Mondes  "  was  the  first  example  of 
it;  but  a  dangerous  example,  because 
the  true  setting  of  philosophy  is 
order,  lucidity  and,  above  all,  truth. 
The  book  was  ingenious,  but  it  has 
probably  failed  to  be  ranked  as 
a  classic  because  it  is  founded  in 
part  upon  the  chimerical  theory  of 
Descartes. 

We  shall  not  dwell  here  upon 
the  number  of  good  books  of  the 
century,  but  will  pause  only  at  the 
new  or  singular  productions  of  genius 
which  distinguish  it  from  other 
centuries.  The  eloquence  of  Bossuet  and  Bourdaloue,  for  instance,  was  not 
and  could  not  be  that  of  Cicero.  If  the  new  eloquence  had  any  resemblance 
to  that  of  the  Roman  orator,  the  likeness  will  be  traced  in  the  three 
memorials  which  Pellisson  composed  for  Fouquet,  They  are  of  the  same  kind 
as  several  of  the  orations  of  Cicero,  a  mixture  of  legal  with  State  affairs, 
treated  with  sound  unobtrusive  art,  and  adorned  by  affecting  eloquence. 


SUITE 
DE  L'ODIC  E'E 

D  HOMERE 

A  l  i  ps  o  ne  pou- 
voir fe  confoler  du 
départ'd'UlyiTe:  dans 
la  douleur  elle  fe  trou  voie 
malheureufe  d'eftre  immor- 
telle. Sa  grotte  ne  refonnoit 
plus  du  doux  chant  de  fa 
voix  .  les  Nimphes  qui  la  fer- 
voient  n'ofoient  luy  parler, 
elle  fe  promenoit  fouvent 
feule  fur  les  gafons  fleuris , 


FIRST  PAGE  OF  THE  FIRST  EDITION  OF  TÉLÉMAQUE, 
WHICH  APPEARED  UNDER  THE  TITLE:  "SUITE 

DE  l'odyssée  d'homère." 


PROSE    BORN    OF  POETRY 


299 


We  have  had  historians,  but  never  a  Livy.  The  style  of  "  La 
Conjuration  de  Venise  "  bears  comparison  with  that  of  Sallust.  The  Abbé 
de  Saint  Real  evidently  took  him  for  his  model,  and  perhaps  he  has 
surpassed  him.     All  the  other  works  to  which  we  have  referred  belong 

to  a  new  creation.  This  is  the 
special  distinction  of  the  great 
century  ;  for  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries  produced 
savants  and  commentators  in 
plenty,  but  true  genius  in  any 
line  was  not  yet  developed. 

Who  would  believe  that  all 
these  fine  works  in  prose  would 
probably  never  have  existed  if 
they  had  not  been  preceded  by 
poetry  ?  This  is,  however,  the 
destiny  of  the  human  intellect 
in  every  nation  :  verse  has  always 
been  the  first-born  of  genius,  and 
the  first  teacher  of  elocpuence. 

Nations  are  like  individuals. 
Plato  and  Cicero  began  by 
writing  in  verse.  Not  a  passage 
of  noble  or  sublime  French  prose 
could  be  quoted,  when  everyone 
knew  the  few  beautiful  stanzas 
left  by  Malherbe,  and  it  is  con- 
ceivable 1 1  int.  save  for  Pierre 
Corneille,  the  genius  of  prose 
would  not  have  been  developed. 
Corneille  is  all  the  more  admirable  because  he  had  only  bad  models 
when  he  began  to  produce  tragedies,  and  these  bad  models  were  held  m 
esteem.  For  his  greater  discouragement  too,  they  were  favoured  by 
Cardinal  de  Richelieu,  the  patron  of  men  of  letters,  but  not  of  good 
taste.  The  Cardinal-minister  rewarded  small  writers,  who  are  generally 
servile,  and  desired  to  keep  down  those  in  whom,  to  his  displeasure,  he 
recognised  real   crenius,  which  seldom  stoops  to  dependence.     Good  artists 


FRONTISPIECE  OK  THE  FIRST  COMPLETE  EDITION  OK 
'TÉLÉMAQUE,"  PUBLISHED  IN  1717  HV  THE  MARQUIS  1 1 B  PÉNHLOK 
(Print  by  BaiUeul  and  Hull.-. 


300 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


are  very  seldom  patronised  by  a  power- wielding  man  who  is  himself 
an  artist. 

Corneille  had  to  contend  with  his  time,  his  rivals,  and  Cardinal  de 
Eichelieu.  I  will  not  repeat  here  what  has  been  written  concerning  "  Le 
Cid."  I  shall  merely  remark  that  the  Académie  Française,  in  its  judicial 
decisions    between    Corneille   and    Scudéry,   were  too  accommodating  to 

Richelieu  in  condemning- 
Chimène  (Ximena).  That  she 
should  love  the  murderer  and 
yet  seek  vengeance  for  the 
murder  was  sublime.  The 
denial  of  her  love  would  have 
been  a  capital  defect  in  tragic 
art,  which  chiefly  consists  in 
the  strife  of  the  heart  ;  but 
art  was  unknown  then  except 
to  Pierre  Corneille. 

"  Le  Cid  "  was  not  the 
only  work  of  its  author  that 
Cardinal  de  Richelieu  would 
have  put  down  if  he  could. 
The  Abbé  d'Aubignac  tells  us 
that  the  great  Minister  dis- 
approved of  "  Polyeucte." 

"  Le  Cid  "  is,  after  all,  a 
highly-embellished  imitation  of 
Guillem  de  Castro,  and  in  many 
places  a  direct  translation. 
"  Cinna,"  which  followed  it,  was 
original.  I  knew  an  old  servant  of  the  house  of  Condé  who  said  that  the 
great  Condë,  then  about  twenty  years  of  age,  being  present  at  a 
first  performance  of  "  Cinna,"  shed  tears  at  the  words  of  Augustus  : — 

Je  suis  maître  de  moi  comme  de  l'univers  ; 

Je  le  suis,  je  veux  l'être.    O  siècles  !  O  mémoire  ! 

Conservez  à  jamais  ma  dernière  victoire. 

Je  triomphe  aujourd'hui  du  plus  juste  courroux 

De  qui  le  souvenir  puisse  aller  jusqu'à  vous  : 

Soyons  amis,  Cinna  ;  c'est  moi  qui  t'en  convie. 


GEORGES  DE  SCUDEKY. 
(From  a  print  by  Desrochers.) 


CORNEILLE    AND  CONDÉ 


301 


Those  were  the  tears  of  a  hero.  The  great  Corneille  making  the  great 
Conclé  weep  with  admiration  is  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
human  mind. 

The  large  number  of  inferior  plays  which  he  wrote  many  years  after- 
wards did  not  prevent  the  nation  from  regarding  him  as  a  great  man, 
just  as  the  considerable  defects  of  Homer  did  not  prevent  him  from 
being  sublime.  It  is  the  privilege  of 
true  genius,  and  especially  of  the 
genius  that  initiates,  to  make  great 
mistakes  with  impunity. 

Corneille  was  formed  by  him- 
self only,  but  Louis  XIV.,  Colbert, 
Sophocles,  and  Euripides  all  contributed 
to  form  Racine.  An  ode  which  he 
composed  at  the.  age  of  eighteen  in 
honour  of  the  marriage  of  the  king 
brought  him  an  unexpected  present, 
and  determined  him  to  devote  himself 
to  poetry.  His  reputation  has  grown 
from  day  to  day,  and  that  of  Corneille 
has  declined  a  little.  The  reason  is 
that  in  all  his  works  since  his  "  Alex- 
andre "  Racine  is  always  elegant,  alwaj  s 
correct,  always  real,  that  he  speaks  to 
the  heart,  and  that  Corneille  too  often 
fails  in  all  these  respects.  Racine  went 
far  beyond  the  Greeks  and  Corneille 
in  the  understanding  of  the  passions, 
verse  and  the  graces  of  speech  to  I 
These  men  taught  the  nation  to  think,  to  feel,  and  to  express  itself 
Their  hearers,  their  pupils,  instructed  by  them  alone,  at  last  became  severe 
critics  of  their  teachers. 

There  were  but  few  persons  in  France  in  the  time  of  Richelieu 
capable  of  detecting  the  faults  of  "be  Cid  "  ;  and  in  I  70l\  when 
"Athalie"  was  performed  for  the  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne  and  her  guests, 
the  courtiers  considered  themselves  competent  to  condemn  it.  Time  has 
avenged  the  author,  but  the  great  man  died  without  enjoying  the  fame 


PIERRE  CORNEILLE. 
(Kroin  the  original  portrait  by  Lebrun.) 

and  carried  the  sweet  harmony  ot 
he   highest  point  they  could  reach. 


302 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


of  his  finest  work.  A  numerously-composed  "set"  deliberately  did  injustice 
to  Racine.  Madame  de  Sévigné,  whose  epistolary  style  was  unrivalled  in  the 
century,  and  especially  for  its  airy  grace  in  discussing  or  describing  trifles, 
always  thinks  Racine  "will  not  last."  She  pronounced  on  him  as  she  did 
on  coffee,  saying,  "people  will  soon  find  it  out."  Reputations  need  time 
to  mature. 

The  singular  destiny  of  this  century  made  Molière  the  contemporary 
of  Corneille  and  Racine.     It  is  not  true  that  Molière,  when  he  appeared, 

found  the  stage  absolutely  destitute 
of  good  comedies.  Corneille  himself 
had  produced  "  Le  Menteur,"  a  play 
of  character  and  intrigue,  taken  like 
"  Le  Cid  "  from  the  Spanish  stage, 
and  Molière  had  produced  but  two 
of  his  masterpieces  in  1G64  when 
Quinault  gave  "  La  Mère  coquette," 
a  play  of  character  and  intrigue, 
indeed  a  model  of  intrigue,  to  the 
public.  This  was  the  first  comedy 
that  depicted  those  who  have  since 
been  called  "les  marquis."  Most  of 
the  "  grands  seigneurs  "  at  the  Court 
of  Louis  XIV.  longed  to  imitate  the 
master's  air  of  orandeur,  dignity, 
and  splendour.  Those  of  an  inferior 
order  copied  the  proud  bearing  of 
the  class  above  them  ;  so  that  many  carried  their  pretensions  to  importance 
to  the  height  of  absurdity. 

This  went  on  for  a  long  time.  Molière  attacked  the  evil  frequently, 
and  he  contributed  to  deliver  the  public  from  these  pretenders,  as  well 
as  from  the  affectation  of  the  "précieuses,"  the  pedantry  of  the  "femmes 
savantes,"  and  from  the  gowns  and  the  Latin  of  the  doctors.  Molière 
was,  if  one  may  say  so,  a  law-giver  in  good  manners.  I  speak  here 
only  of  this  one  social  service  which  he  rendered  to  his  time  ;  his  other 
merits  are  sufficiently  known. 

Well  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  time  to  come  is  that  in 
which  the  heroes  of  Corneille  and  Racine,  the  characters  of  Molière,  the 


(From  tlie  original  portrait  by  Migiiar.l,  which  belonged  to  the 
Duo  (l'Aumale,  Château  de  Chantilly.) 


A     BRILLIANT  (iliDl'P 


303 


'(yr\ 


THE  GREAT  CONDI'.. 
(From  a  meilal  by  Chiron,  fai-e.) 


symphonies  of  Lulli, 
all  new  to  the  nation, 
the  eloquence  of  Bos- 
suet  and  Bourdaloue, 
were  made  known 
to  Louis  XIV.,  to 
.Madame,  so  famous 
for  her  fine  taste,  to 
(  ondé,  to  Turenne,  to 
Colbert,  and  to  the 
eminent     men  who 


THE  TRIUMPHS  OK  THF.  GREAT  COXUK. 
(Same  melal,  reverse.) 


appeared  in  numbers  in  all  ranks.  The  Duc  de  La  Rochefoucauld,  the 
author  of  the  "Maximes,"  might  then  have  come  away  from  a  conver- 
sation  with  a  Pascal  or  an  Arnauld  to  go  to  a  play  by  Corneille. 

Despréaux  raised  himself  to  the  level  of  so  many  great  men,  nol  by 
his  early  satires,  for  posterity  will  care  little  for     Les  Embarras  de  Taris." 
or  for  the  names  of  Cassaigne  and  Cotio  :  but  he 
was  instructing  that  posterity  when  he  wrot< 
elegant  letters,  and  especially  "  L'Art  Poétiqu< 
which  Corneille  found  much  to  learn. 

La  Fontaine,  much  less  chaste  in  style, 
less  correct  in  language,  but  unrivalled 
in  simplicity  and  gracefulness  all  his  own, 
stands  almost  alongside  of  those  greatesl 
men,  by  his  perfection  in  the  simplest 
things. 

Quinault,  in  an  original  fashion  which 
was  all  the  more  difficult  that  it  seemed 
easy,  was  worthy  of  a  place  among  his 
illustrious  contemporaries.    It  is  well  known  with 
what  injustice  Boileau  treated  him.     Boileau  had 
never  sacrificed  to  the  Graces;  and  so  all  his  life 
he  tried  to  humiliate  a  man   whom   the  Graces 
only  had  made  famous.    The  true  panegyric  of  a 
poet  is  that  his  poems  are  remembered.  "Whole 
scenes  in  the  works  of  Quinault  are  known  by 
heart,  a  distinction  to  which  no  Italian  opera  could 


THU  GREAT  CONDJS. 
(Bronze  bust  by  Coysevox.— Musée  du  Louvre.) 


304 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


attain.  French  music  has  retained  a  simplicity  which  is  no  longer  to  the 
taste  of  any  country,  but  the  simple  and  beautiful  naturalness  that  has 
such  a  charm  in  Quinault,  still  pleases  all  who  know  our  language  and 
possess  a  cultivated  taste,  throughout  Europe.  If  an  antique  poem  like 
"  Armide  "  or  "  Atys  "  could  be  found,  with  what  idolatry  it  would  be 
received  !    But  Quinault  was  modern. 

All  these  great  men  were  known  and  patronised  by  Louis  XIV. 
except  La  Fontaine.  His  extreme  simplicity,  which  exceeded  the  bounds 
of  propriety,  excluded  him  from  a  Court  which  he  did  not  seek  ;  but  the 
Duc  de  Bourgogne  received  him  with  welcome,  and  showed  him  kindness 

in  his  old  age.  Notwithstandmo; 


hi 




he  was  almost  as 


s  genius, 
simple  as  the  characters  in  his 
fables.  We  might  apply  to  La 
Fontaine  his  own  admirable  fable, 
"Les  Animaux  malades  de  la 
peste."  In  that  quaint  conceit 
all  the  beasts  confess  their 
faults  ;  everything  is  forgiven  to 
the  lions,  the  wolves,  and  the 
bears,  while  an  innocent  animal 
a  dish  in  Parisian  BARTHENWARE,  representing,  from  the    jg  sacrificed  for  having  eaten  a 

ROMANCE  BY  FRANCION,  A  SCHNE  OF  PARISIAN  LIFE,  O  ' 


PLACE  MAUBERT. 
(Collection  of  M.  Charles  RossigneuxO 


little  grass. 


In  the  school  of  these  men  of 
genius,  who  will  give  delight  and  instruction  for  ages  to  come,  a  number 
of  minor  writers  were  produced  and  reared,  whose  works  provide  amuse- 
ment for  ordinary  folks  ;  and  just  in  the  same  way  we  have  had  many 
graceful  painters  whom  we  do  not  place  beside  Poussin,  Lesueur,  Lebrun, 
Lemoine  or  Vanloo. 

However,  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  there  were 
two  men  who  had  considerable  reputation.  One  of  these  was  La  Motte 
Houdar,  whose  mind  was  wise  and  broad  rather  than  sublime,  a  delicate 
and  methodical  writer  in  prose,  but  wanting  in  his  poetry  in  warmth, 
elegance,  and  even  in  that  correctness  which  must  be  neglected  only  in 
favour  of  the  sublime.  At  first  he  produced  fine  stanzas  rather  than  fine 
odes,  and  his  vogue  was  short-lived  ;  but  we  still  have  some  good  pieces  by 
him  in  more  than  one  style  ;  these  will  always  prevent  his  being  classed 


THE    POET  ROUSSEAU 

with  indiffèrent  writers.  He  proved  that,  in  the  art  of  writing 
still  be  "somebody"  in  the  second  rank. 


BOILKAU  DKSPUK.Vt'.X,   BY  H.  KIGAUD. 
(Musée  Je  Versailles.) 

The  other  was  Rousseau,  who,  with  less  wit,  less  delicacy,  less  refine- 
ment and  facility  than  La   Motte,  had  more  of  the  poetic  gift.  His 

2  R 


306 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


odes,  which  were  "after"  La  Motte,  were  more  graceful  and  varied.  They 
were  full  of  imagery.  His  psalms  are  equal  in  fervour  and  harmony  to 
the  hymns  of  Racine.  His  epigrams  are  more  highly  finished  than  those 
of  Marot.  He  failed  in  operas  which  demand  sentiment,  in  comedy  which 
requires  vivacity,  and  in  moral  epistles  which  must  have  truth,  because 
he  lacked  all  these. 

He  would  have  corrupted  the  French  language  if  the  style  which  he 
adopted  from  Marot  had  found  imitators  ;  but  fortunately,  that  mixture  of 

the  purity  of  our  own  tongue 
with  the  deformities  of  the 
language  two  centuries  earlier 
was  but  a  passing  fashion. 
His  long  course  of  ill-fortune 
had  its  origin  in  indomitable 
self-love,  with  a  large  admix- 
ture of  jealousy  and  animosity. 
His  example  ought  to  be  a 
striking  lesson  for  all  men  of 
parts  ;  but  we  are  considering 
him  in  these  pages  only  as  a 
writer  who  contributed  not  a 
little  to  the  honour  of  literature. 

No  men  of  great  genius 
have  arisen  since  the  golden 
days  of  these  illustrious  artists  ; 
and  towards  the  close  of  the  life 
of  Louis  XIV.  Nature  seemed 
to  be  in  repose. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century  the  path  was  difficult  because  it  was 
untrodden  ;  it  is  difficult  in  our  day  because  it  has  been  beaten.  The 
great  men  of  the  past  century  taught  us  to  think  and  to  speak  ;  they  told 
us  that  which  we  did  not  know.  Their  successors  could  only  tell  us  what 
was  known,  and  so  at  length  there  came  a  sort  of  distaste  for  the  multitude 
of  masterpieces. 

The  destiny  of  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.  has  followed  the  track  of  the 
ages  of  Leo.  X.,  of  Augustus,  and  of  Alexander.  The  soil  which  bore 
such  fruits  of  genius  in  those  famous  times  had  been   prepared  long 


THE  MUSE  OP  HISTORY  WRITIN'G  THE  LIFE  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 
(Bas-relief .  in  marble  by  Rousselet.— Musée  du  Louvre.) 


Til  E    BOUNDARIES    OF  ART 


307 


before.  The  reason  of  the  long  delay  of  that  harvest,  and  the  sterility 
which  followed  it,  has  been  sought  in  vain  in  physical  and  moral  causes  : 
the  true  reason  is  that  it  takes  many  years  to  purify  language  and  taste 
in  countries  where  the  fine  arts  are  cultivated.  After  the  first  steps  genius 
shows  and  develops  itself  ;  emulation  and  the  public  favour  that  is  freely 
bestowed  upon  new  achievements  stir  all  the  talents  into  animation. 
Each  artist  makes  his  own  of  the  natural  beauties  which  are  related  to 
his  order  of  art.  Every  student  of  the  theory  of  the  purely  intellectual 
arts  ought,  if  he  himself  possesses  talent,  to  know  that  the  primary 
beauties,  the  great  natural  features  which  belong  to  the  arts,  are  few. 
Subjects  and  the  accessories  proper  to  them  are  more  restricted  than  is 
supposed.     The  Alibi-'  Dubos,  a  man   of  sound  good  sense,  who  wTrote  his 

treatise  on  poetry  and  painting 
in  1714,  points  out  that,  in  the 
whole  history  of  France  there 
is  no  truly  fit  subject  for  an 
epic  poem  save  the  destruction 
of  the  League  by  Henri  IV.  He 
ought  to  have  added  that  the 
ornamentation  of  the  epic  which 
was  acceptable  to  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  and  to  the  Italians 
of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries,  being  proscribed 
among  the  French,  the  gods  of  fable,  oracles,  invulnerable  heroes,  monsters, 
sorceries,  metamorphoses,  and  romantic  adventurers  being  out  of  date,  the 
accessories  of  the  epic  are  confined  within  a  very  narrow  circle.  If  then 
some  artist  shall  appear  who  immediately  lays  hold  of  the  only  decorative 
objects  that  correspond  with  the  time,  the  subject,  and  his  country,  and 
does  what  others  have  only  attempted,  those  who  come  after  him  will 
find  the  ground  occupied. 

The  case  is  the  same  with  tragedy.  We  must  not  imagine  that 
great  tragic  passions  and  sentiments  can  be  infinitely  varied  after  a  new 
and  striking  fashion.    All  things  have  their  limits. 

High  comedy  has  its  own  boundaries.  There  is  not  in  human  nature 
more  than  a  dozen  at  most  types  of  character  truly  comic  and  strongly- 
featured.    The  Abbé  Dubos,  who  lacks  genius,  thinks  men  of  genius  may 


CHANCELLOR  SEQUIER,  PATRON  OK  THE  ACADÉMIE  FRANÇAISE. 
(Fmm  a  print  by  Si'lmstinn  T.eclerr.) 


308 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


yet  find  a  multitude  of  new  characters;  but  Nature  would  have  to  make  them. 
Shades  of  colour  are  indeed  innumerable,  but  the  bright  tints  are  few,  and 
it  is  these  primitive  tints  that  a  great  artist  unfailingly  employs.  A  sufficient 
number  of  fables  being  composed  by  a  La  Fontaine,  all  that  are  added  to 
that  number  convey  the  same  moral  truths,  illustrated  by  almost  similar 

adventures.  So  it  happens  that 
genius  has  only  one  epoch, 
after  which  it  is  bound  to 
degenerate. 

The  kinds  of  art  which 
are  constantly  progressive,  such 
as  history  and  physical  obser- 
vation, and  which  require  only 
application,  judgment,  and 
ordinary  intelligence,  may  be 
kept  up  more  easily  ;  and  the 
arts  of  the  hand,  such  as  paint- 
ing and  sculpture,  need  not 
degenerate  when  the  governing 
power  is  careful,  like  Louis 
XIV.,  to  employ  only  the  best 
artists.  For  the  same  subjects 
may  be  treated  a  hundred 
times  over  in  painting  and  in 
sculpture.  The  Holy  Family  is 
still  painted,  although  Baflaelle 
has  lavished  all  that  is  best 
of  his  art  upon  it  ;  but  it 
would  not  be  tolerated  that 
Cinna,  Andromaque,  L'Art 
poétique,  and  Le  Tartufe  should  be  dealt  with  again. 

It  must  also  be  observed  that,  the  past  century  having  instructed 
the  present,  it  has  become  so  easy  to  write  second-rate  things  that  we 
have  been  inundated  with  frivolous  books,  and  worse  still,  with  useless 
serious  books  ;  but  we  find  from  time  to  time  among  that  mass  of 
mediocrity — a  necessary  evil  in  a  huge  opulent  and  idle  city,  where  one 
part  of  the  citizens  is  incessantly  engaged  in  amusing  the  other — excellent 


LOUIS  XIV.  l'.VTRONISKS  ART  AND  SCIENCE, 
(A  print  by  Watelé  ami  Edeliuck.) 


THE    LANGUAGE    OF  SOCIETY 


309 


works  of  various  kinds,  history,  reflections,  or  the  light  literature  that 
affords  recreation  to  minds  of  every  sort. 

France  has  produced  more  of  these  works  than  any  other  country. 
Her  language  has  become  the  language  of  Europe.  To  this  everything 
has  contributed  :  the  great  authors  of  the  time  of  the  great  King,  the 
refugee  Calvinist  pastors,  who  carried  eloquence  and  method  into  foreign 
countries  ;  Bayle  especially,  who,  writing  in  Holland,  wTas  read  everywhere  ; 
Rapin  de  Thoyras,  who  has  written  in  French  the  only  good  history  of 
England  ;  Saint-Evremond,  whose  society  was  sought  by  the  whole  English 
Court  ;  the  Duchess  d'Olbreuse,  afterwards  Duchess  of  Zell,  who  transported 
her  native  grace  into  Germany.  The  spirit  of  society  is  the  natural 
inheritance  of  the  French  ;  other  nations  would  fain  have  it.  Of  all 
languages,  the  French  is  that  which  expresses  all  the  subjects  on  which 
people  converse  with  most  facility,  neatness  and  delicacy,  and  by  this  gift 
of  expression  the  French  language  contributes  to  one  of  the  greatest 
pleasures  of  life  all  over  Europe. 


TAILPIECE  I' ROM  Tin:  COLLECTION  OP  FRONTISPIECES 
OP  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

(From  Hip  Caliinrt  »f  1'rints.) 
(  Bibliothèque  Nationale.) 


THK  LOVES  AS  SCULPTORS  AND  ARCHITECTS. 
(An  allegorical  engraving  for  the  Academy  of  Sculpture.) 


THK  CASCADE  OK  THE  BATHS  OK  DIANA. 
(ISas-rclief  by  GirarJou.    Brouze  gilt.— Gardens  of  Versailles.) 


Ill 


ORNAMENTAL  LETTER  BY  VU.  CHAUVEAU. 

(From  the  collection  of  Courses  de  tétel  et  de  btvjues 
from  the  Imprimerie  Royale.) 


THE    FINE  ARTS 

IN  arts  that  arc  not  purely  intellectual, 
like  music,  painting,  sculpture  and 
architecture,  but  little  progress  had  been 
made  in  France  before  the  time  that  is 
called  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.  Music  was 
in  its  infancy  ;  a  few  sentimental  songs, 
some  airs  for  the  violin,  guitar  and  theorbo, 
mostly  composed  in  Spain,  were  all  that  was 
known.  The  science  and  taste  of  Lulli  were 
lvcoonised  with  astonishment;  he  was  the 
fust  in  France  who  produced  bass,  middle 
parts  and  fugues.  At  first  there  was  some 
difficulty  in  playing  his  compositions,  simple 
At  the  present  time  there  are  a  thousand 
one  who   knew  that   art   in   the  time  of 

Now 


and  easy  as  they  seem  now. 
people  who  know  music  for 

Louis  XIV.,  and  music  itself  has  progressed  in  a  like  proportion, 
there  is  no  great  town  without  public  concerts;  then  Paris  itself  had  none; 
and  the  King's  twenty-four  violins  represented  all  the  music  of  France. 

Knowledge  of  things  appertaining  to  music,  and  to  the  arts  that  are 
derived  from  it,  made  such  progress  that  at  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV.  notation  for  dance  music  bad  been  introduced. 

France  had  very  eminent  architects  in  the  time  of  the  regency  of 
Marie  de  Médicis.     The  Palais  du  Luxembourg,  which  she  was  never  to 


312 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


inhabit,  was  built  for  the  Queen  by  De  Brosse  in  the  Tuscan  style,  to  do 
honour  to  her  own  country  and  to  adorn  ours.  He  also  executed  the 
great  entrance  to  Saint-Gervais.  Cardinal  de  Richelieu,  although  his  ideas 
were  as  expansive  as  hers,  did  not  possess  her  correct  taste.  The  Palais 
Cardinal,  now  the  Palais  Royal,  is  a  proof  of  this.  Our  hopes  were  raised 
high  when  we  beheld  that  beautiful  facade  of  the  Louvre,  which  makes  it 
so  disappointing  that  the  palace  should  not  be  completed.     Many  citizens 

have  built  fine  houses  for 
themselves,  but  these  are  more 
elegant  in  their  interior  than 
in  their  external  aspect,  and 
are  more  satisfactory  to  their 
owners  than  ornamental  to  the 
city. 

Colbert,  the  Maecenas  of  all 
the  arts,  founded  an  Academy 
of  Architecture  in  1671,  but  it 
is  of  little  avail  to  have  ever  so 
many  examples  of  Vitruvius  ; 
we  want  some  imitators  of 
Augustus  as  well. 

The  municipal  magistrates 
also  must  have  energy  and 
taste.  Had  there  been  two  or 
three  Mayors  of  Paris  like 
President  Turgot,  the  city  would 
not  have  to  bear  the  reproach 
of  that  ill-constructed  and  ill- 
placed  Hôtel  de  Ville,  in  a 
square  so  small  and  irregular  that  it  is  famous  only  for  executions  and 
fireworks,  and  of  its  narrow  streets  in  the  most  frequented  quarters  ;  in 
short,  the  remains  of  barbarism  in  the  midst  of  grandeur  and  in  the  home 
of  all  the  arts. 

Painting;  began  under  Louis  XIV.  with  Poussin.  No  account  need 
be  taken  of  the  painters  who  preceded  him.  Since  him  we  have  always 
had  great  painters,  not  indeed  in  the  numbers  which  make  Italy  rich, 
but  without  mentioning  Lesueur,  who  was  his  own  teacher,  or  Lebrun,  who 


A  HARPSICHORD  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(From  a  print  by  Boimart.) 


THE    ACADEMY    OF  PATNTTXC 


313 


m 
-  I 

Mi 

•!  HI 


Si 


was  equal  to  the  Italians  in 
desiffn  and  execution,  we  have 
had  more  than  thirty  artists 
who  have  left  pictures  well 
worthy  of  study.  Foreigners 
have  begun  to  carry  them  away 
from  us.  In  the  residence  of  a 
great  king  (Frederick  the  Great) 
I  have  seen  apartments  and  even 
galleries  adorned  solely  with  our 
pictures  :  perhaps  we  were  not 
sufficiently  aware  of  their  value. 

I  have  known  twelve  thousand  livres  to  be  refused  in  France  for  a  picture 
by  Santerre.  In  all  Europe  there  is  not  to  be  found  a  larger  piece  of 
painting  than  the  ceiling  at  Versailles  by  Lemoine,  and  1  do  not  know 
whether  there  are  finer  ones.  Since  then  we  have  had  Vanloo,  who  ranked 
even  among  foreigners  as  the  first  of  his  time. 

Not  only  did  Colbert  give  the  Academy  of  Tainting  its  still  existing 
form,  but  he  prevailed  on  Louis  XIV.  to  establish  one  at  Rome  in  1667. 
A  palace  was  purchased,  and  a  director  was  installed.  Students  who  have 
gained  prizes  in  Taris  are  sent  to  this  Academy,  where  they  are  maintained 


SATIRICAL    PRINT    OK    16G4    ON    THF.    CONSTITUTION'    OF  THF 
ACADÉMIE  DES  BEAUX-ARTS,  WHICH  REPLACED  THE  FORMER 
ACADÉMIE  DES  MAITRES  PEINTRES  ON  SEPTEMBER  IOtH. 


A  COMPOSITION  BY  S.   LECLERC  IN  HONOUR  OF  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  ACADEMIES  BY  LOUIS  XIV. 

2  S 


314 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


LOUIS  XIV.   VISITING  ONE  OF  THE  FIRST  EXHIBITIONS  OF 
FAINTING  AT  THE  GOBELINS,  1699. 
(Print  by  Sébastien  Leclerc.) 


at  the  King's  expense  ;  there 
they  draw  from  the  antique  ; 
they  study  Raphael  and 
Michael  Angelo.  Noble  homage 
is  done  to  Rome,  ancient  and 
modern,  by  this  desire  to 
imitate  her  ;  and  that  homage 
has  not  been  withdrawn  since 
the  immense  collections  of 
Italian  pictures  made  by  the 
King  and  by  the  Duc  d'Orléans,  and  the  masterpieces  of  sculpture  which 
France  has  produced,  have  rendered  it  unnecessary  to  seek  for  masters 
elsewhere. 

It  is  in  the  department  of  sculpture  that  we  have  principally  excelled, 
and  in  the  art  of  casting  colossal  equestrian  figures. 

If  there  were  disinterred  some  day,  from  mounds  of  ruins,  such  works 
of  art  as  the  Baths  of  Apollo,  now  exposed  to  injury  by  the  air  in  the 
groves  of  Versailles  ;  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  de  Richelieu  out  of  public  view  in 
the  chapel  of  the  Sorbonne  ;   the  eques- 
trian statue  of  Louis  XIV.,  executed  in 
Paris  for  the  adornment  of  Bordeaux  ; 
or  the  Mercury  which  Louis  XV.  has 
presented  to  the  King  of  Prussia,  and 
so  many  other  works  equal  to  these,  we 
may  be  sure  that  those  productions  of 
our  time  would  be  placed  by  the  side 
of  the  finest  of  the  antiquities  of  Greece. 

We  have  equalled  the  ancients  in  medals. 
Warm,  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIII.,  was  the  first  to  raise  the  art 
above  mediocrity.  An  admirable  collection  of 
medals  is  now  arranged  in  historical  sequence 
in    the    gallery  assigned  to  artists  at  the  1  l"~Ei'fii^^^^wX:: 

Louvre.  They  are  worth  nearly  two  millions,  '  i 
and  most  of  them  are  masterpieces. 

Equal  excellence  has  been  attained  in  A  children's  Bacchanalia. 

(Bronze  vase  on  the  terrace  of  the  Chateau  de  Versailles, 

the  art  of  engraving  precious  stones.     The         cast  by  Duvai,  and  carved  by  Paiim.) 


T1IH  BED-CHAMBER  OF  LOUIS  XIV.,  CHÂTEAU  DE  VERSAILLES. 

The  gilded  sculpture  oi  the  frouts  is  by  Coustou  ami  Lesplngole.   The  balustrade  and  all  the  oruatncuts  iu  carved  wood  which 

adorn  the  walls  are  of  the  period. 


THE    ART    OF  SURGERY 


317 


art  of  multiplying  pictures  l>y  copper- 
plate engraving,  thus  easily  trans- 
mitting all  the  representations  of 
nature  and  art  to  posterity,  was 
elementary  in  France  before  this 
century.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
useful  and  pleasing  arts.  "We  owe 
it  to  the  Florentines,  who  invented 
it  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  it  has 
N  been  brought  to 
greater  perfection 
in  France  than  in  the 
land  of  its  origin, 
because  there  has  been 
a  larger  demand  for 
it.    Collections  of  the 


THE  ERECTION  OF  THE  STATUE  OF  LOTIS  XIV.  AT  LYONS. 
(From  a  print  cf  tlio  period.) 


>  y 


ANCIENT  TOUCHSTAND  IN  THE 
CHAMBER  OF  LOUIS  XIV., 
CHÂTEAU  DE  VERSAILLES. 


King's  prints  have  frequently  been  presented  to  ambassadors, 
and  arc  reckoned  among  the  most  valuable  of  his  gifts. 
Carving  in  gold  and  silver,  which  depends  upon  design  and 
taste,  has  been  carried  to  the  highest  perfection. 

We  have  now  enumerated  the  arts  that  contribute  to  the 
enjoyment  of  individuals  and  the  honour  of  the  State  ;  we 
cannot  leave  the  most  useful  of  them  all  unnoticed.  This  is 
the  art  of  surgery,  in  which  France  surpasses  the  world.  80 
rapid  and  so  famous  was  its  progress  in  this  century,  that 
sufferers  came  to  Paris  from  the  most  distant  parts  of  Europe 
for  cure,  and  for  all  operations  that  required  exceptional 
^  dexterity. 

Not  only  were  there  few  skilful  surgeons  elsewhere 
than  in  France,  but  the  necessary  instruments  were 
perfected  only  in  this  country.  France  supplied  all 
her  neighbours,  and  1  have  heard  from  Chesilden,  the 
oreatest  surgeon  in  London,  that  he  was  the  first 
who  had  the  instruments  of  his  art  made  in  England 
in  1715. 

Medicine  did  not  rise    higher  in  France  than  in 


318 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


England,  or  under  the  celebrated 
Boerhave  in  Holland,  but  it 
reached  such  perfection  as  it  did 
attain  because  we  had  profited 
by  the  studies  of  our  neighbours. 

This  faithful  statement  of  the 
progress  of  human  intelligence  in 
France,  in  this  century,  began 
with  the  time  of  Cardinal  de 
Eichelieu  and  ends  in  our  own. 
It  will  hardly  be  surpassed  ;  and 
if,  indeed,  it  be  surpassed  in  some 
respects,  it  will  remain  a  model  for  the  happier  ages  which  owe  their 
birth  to  it. 


EMBLEMATIC  DEVICE  OK  THE  SURGEONS  OF  PARIS. 
(Fragment  of  au  Almauac.) 


Y  Y 


LOUIS  XIV.   VICTOR  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  HOLLAND. 
(Marble  vase  on  the  terrace  of  the  Chateau  de  Versailles, 
sculptured  by  Tuby.) 


It  is  very  surprising  to  find  this 
summary  of  the  arts  completed  by  a 
statement  of  the  progress  of  surgery, 
at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  sketch  itself  is  so  brief  that  it  may 
justly  be  regarded  as  incomplete  ;  but 
we  may  allow  surgery  to  occupy  the 
place  which  Voltaire  has  given  it, 
because  the  word  "  art  "  was  still  under- 
stood in  his  day  in  the  former  sense, 
which  we  now  render  by  "  arts  and 
crafts."  Let  us,  however,  complete  the 
indications  he  has  given  us  here,  by 
the  biographical  details  which  he  has 
added  in  his  catalogue  of  famous  artists. 

This  is  the  most  legitimate  and  the 
surest  way  of  learning  his  whole  mind, 
and  also  the  judgment  of  his  time  on 
questions  of  art  in  his  age,  which  was 
so  close  to  the  seventeenth  century 
itself. 


AMPHITHEATRE  OK  SAINT-COrui:,  OK  THE  PARISIAN  BURGEONS'  HALL, 

(From  a  print  i>y  Simonuean  and  I'ereiie.) 


321 


THK  RAPE  OF  PROSERPINE. 
(A  toiriiKisitii.il  by  Lebrun  for  the  /lum/uet 
de  la  Colonnade,  executed  by  (iiraidon.) 
(Uanleus  of  Versailles.) 


MUSICIANS. 

The  vocal  music  of  France  has  not  hitherto  been 
pleasing   to   any  foreign   nation.     This  could   not  be 
otherwise,  because  French  prosody  differs  from  every 
other.     We  dwell  upon  the  final  syllable,  and  all  the 
other  peoples,  like  the  Italians,  dwell  on  the  penultimate 
or  the  ante-penultimate.      Ours  is  the  only  language 
which   has   words    ending    in   e   mute,  and    these,  in 
ordinary    utterance   not   pronounced,   are    sounded  in 
music  in  an  invariable  manner,  as  for  instance,  gloi-reu, 
victoi-reu,  barbari-eu,  furi-eu.     And  this  makes  our 
airs  and  recitative  distasteful  to  those  who  are  not 
accustomed  to  them.    Our  climate  denies  that  clear- 
ness to  our  voices  which  the  climate  of  Italy  gives. 
Besides,  the  slowness  of  our  singing,  which  contrasts 
strangely  with  the  vivacity  of  our  race,  will  always 
make  French  music  acceptable  only  to  the  French. 


Notwithstanding  all  these 
reasons,  foreigners  who  have 
resided  long  in  France  are 
agreed  that  our  musicians  have 
achieved  wonders  in  adjusting 
their  airs  to  our  words,  and 
that  their  musical  utterance 
frequently  has  admirable  ex- 
pression ;  but  this  is  only  to 
an  accustomed  ear,  and  the 
execution  must  be  perfect  :  it 
must  have  actors  ;  in  Italy 
singers  only  are  required. 

Instrumental  music  has  also 
been  charged  with  being  slow 
and  monotonous,  yet  several  of 
our  symphonies  and  a  great  deal 
of  our  dance  music  have  found 
favour  in  other  countries. 


A  CONCERT  BY  CHILDREN. 
(Fragment  Of  a  picture  of  tbe  .School  of  Lély.) 
(Musée  <le  Versailles.) 


2  T 


322 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


They  are  performed  at  various  Italian  operas  ;  and  are  in  the  highest 
favour  with  a  king  who  supports  one  of  the  finest  opera-houses  in 
Europe,  and,  besides  his  other  accomplishments,  has  carefully  cultivated 
that  of  music. 

Lulli  (Jean  Baptiste),  horn  at  Florence  in  1633,  and  brought  to 
France  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  when  he  played  the  violin  only,  was  the 

father  of  true  French  music. 
He  accommodated  his  art  to 
the  spirit  of  the  language  ;  this 
was  the  only  way  to  succeed. 
It  should  lie  remarked  that 
Italian  music  had  not  then 
departed  from  the  gravity  and 
noble  simplicity  which  we  still 
admire  in  the  recitatives  of 
Lulli.  The  well-known  motet 
of  Luigi,  which  was  sung  with 
so  much  success  in  Italy  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  closely 
resembles  those  recitatives  ;  it 
begins  thus  : — 

Sunt  breves  mundi  rosae, 
Sunt  fugitivi  flores  ; 
Frondes  veluti  annosse, 
■^Sf  Sunt  labiles  honores. 


DAMON,   A   " GRAND  SEIGNEUR,"  PLAYING  THE  VIOL.  ft     mUgt    ])e     0l)SerVed  that 

(From  a  print  by  Bonnart.)  .  .  v  . 

in  music  of  this  kind,  the 
melody  of  the  ancients,  the  natural  beauty  of  the  words  produces  the 
beauty  of  the  song  :  nothing  can  be  effectively  uttered  unless  it  is  worth 
hearing.  This  was  not  fully  understood  in  the  time  of  Quinault  and  of 
Lulli.  The  poets  were  jealous  of  the  poet,  and  were  not  jealous  of  the 
musician.    Boileau  reproaches  Quinault  with  : 

....  ces  lieux  communs  de  morale  lubrique, 
Que  Lulli  réchauffa  des  sons  de  sa  musique. 


The  tender  passions  that  Quinault  expressed  so  well  were,  treated  by 
him,  the  true  picture  of  the  human  heart,  far  more  than  a  loose  morality. 


THE    MUSIC    OF    THE  CENTURY 


323 


Quinault  lent  warmth  to  the  music  of  Lulli,  by  his  verse,  rather  than 
Lulli  to  Quinault's  words.  These  two  artists  and  the  actors  made  out 
of  certain  scenes  of  "  Atys,"  of  "Armide,"  and  "Roland,"  a  performance 
such  as  no  ancient,  or  any  country  of  their  own  time  had  ever  known. 
The  detached  airs  and  ariettes  did  not  respond  to  the  perfection  of  these 


great  scenes. 


ke  <»ur  "  noèls  "  and  the 


Those  airs  and  little  songs  wer< 
Venetian  boat-songs  ;  but  they 
were  all  that  was  desired  at 
that  time.  The  more  feeble 
the  music,  the  more  easy  to 
remember  ;  but  the  recitative 
was  so  tine  that  Rameau  never 
equalled  it.  "  I  want  singers," 
he  said  ;  "  and  Lulli,  actors." 
Rameau  enchanted  the  ears, 
Lulli  enchanted  the  soul  :  it 
was  a  great  boon  to  the  ao-e 
of  Louis  XIV.  that  Lulli  met 
with  a  Quinault. 

After  Lulli,  all  the 
musicians,  Colasse,  Campra, 
Destouches  and  others,  were 
his  imitators,  until  Rameau 
appeared,  and  then  he  soared 
above  them  all  by  his  wonderful 
harmony,  and  made  of  music  a 
new  art. 

Although  several  composers  of  church  music  have  been  celebrated  in 
France,  their  works  have  not  hitherto  been  performed  elsewhere. 


KAMA.  A  LADY  OK  QUALITY,  SINGING. 
(From  a  print  by  Homiart.) 


I'AIXTJMS. 

The  case  of  painting  is  not  identical  with  that  of  music.  A  country 
may  have  a  school  of  song  that  pleases  none  but  itself,  because  the  genius 
of  its  language  does  not  admit  any  other  ;  but  painters  must  represent 
Nature,  which  is  the  same  in  every  country,  and  is  seen  with  the  same 
eyes. 


324 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


For  a  painter's  reputation  may  be  genuine,  his  works  must  be  valued 
abroad.  It  is  not  enough  to  have  a  little  party  and  to  be  praised  in 
little  books  :  his  works  must  sell. 

The  talents  of  painters  are  sometimes  cramped  by  the  very  method 
that  ought,  it  would  seem,  to  expand  them  :  that  is,  the  academic  style. 
The  academies  are  no  doubt  very  useful  for  the  training  of  students,  especially 
when  the  directors  work  in  the  grand  style  ;  but  if  the  president's  is  the 

small  style,  or  hard  and  stiff  ; 
if  his  faces  grin,  if  his  pictures 
are  painted  like  fans,  the  pupils, 
being  tempted  by  imitation,  or 
by  the  desire  to  please  an  in- 
different master,  entirely  lose 
the  idea  of  beautiful  Nature. 
There  is  a  fate  over  academies  ; 
no  work  that  is  called  academic 
has  ever  yet  been,  in  any  case, 
a  work  of  genius.  Show  me  an 
artist  who  is  afraid  of  failino- 
to  imitate  the  style  of  his 
fellows,  and  his  productions 
will  be  narrow  and  formal  ; 
show  me  a  man  of  a  free 
spirit,  full  of  the  Nature  which 
he  copies,  and  he  will  succeed. 
Almost  all  the  great  artists 
flourished  before  the  establish- 
the  dancing  master.  ment  of  academies,  and  their 

(From  a  print  by  Bomiart.)  ,       .  . 

work   is   m   a  different  style 
from  the  reigning  taste  of  those  associations. 

Corneille,  Eacine,  Despréaux,  Le  Sueur,  and  Le  Moine  not  only  went 
a  different  way  from  their  contemporaries,  but  had  almost  all  of  them 
for  enemies. 

Poussin  (Nicolas),  born  at  Andelys  in  Normandy  in  1594,  was  his 
own  pupil  ;  he  completed  his  education  at  Eome.  He  is  termed  the 
painter  of  men  of  intelligence  ;  he  might  also  be  called  the  painter  of 
men  of  taste.    His  only  fault  was  that  he  intensified  the  sombre  colouring 


PAINTERS 


325 


of  the  Roman  School.  In  his  time  he  was  the  greatest  painter  in  Europe. 
Being  recalled  from  Rome  to  Paris,  he  became  a  prey  to  envy  and  the 
cabals,  and  like  many  another  artist  he  left  Paris  again,  and  returned  to 
Rome,  where  he  lived,  poor  hut  content.  His  philosophy  placed  him  above 
his  fortune.    He  died  in  L665. 

Le  Sueur  (Eustache)  was  born  in  Paris  in  1617.  Though  he  had  no 
other  master  than  Vouet,  he  nevertheless  became  an  excellent  painter.  He 


THE  ALDERMEN  OF  PAKIS. 
i(Hy  Philippe  dp  Cliaiupajjno. — Musée  du  I.ouvre.) 


had  brought  the  art  of  painting  to  high  perfection  when  lie  died  in  1055 
at  the  ago  of  thirty-eight. 

Bourdon  and  Le  Valentin  have  been  famous.  Three  of  the  best 
pictures  in  the  Church  of  Saint  Peter  at  Rome  are  by  Poussin,  Bourdon, 
and  Le  Valentin. 

LEBRUN  (Charles)  was  born  in  Paris  in  1(119.  He  had  hardly 
developed  his  ability  when  Fouquet,  one  of  the  most  generous  and  unfor- 
tunate men  that  ever  lived,  gave  him  a  pension  of  twenty-four  thousand 
livres  of  our  present  money.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  his  picture  of 
the  Family  of  Darius  at  Versailles  is  not  overpowered  by  the  colouring 


326 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


THE  RHONE, 

(Bronze  statue  by  Coustou,  which  decorated  the  base  of  the 
statue  of  Louis  XIV.  at  Lyons. — Hôte]  de  Ville,  Lyons.J 


of  the  work  of  Paul  Veronese  which 
hangs  by  its  side,  while  the  latter 
far  surpasses  it  in  design,  composi- 
tion, dignity,  expression,  and  faithful 
rendering  of  costume.  The  enorav- 
ings  of  his  pictures  of  the  Battles 
of  Alexander  are  even  more  in  request 
than  the  Battles  of  Constantine  by 
Rafaelle  and  Giulio  Romano.  He 
died  in  1690. 

Mignard  (Pierre),  born  at  Troyes 
in  Champagne  in  1G10,  was  for  some 
time  the  rival  of  Lebrun,  but  he  has 
not  maintained  his  position  in  the  eyes  of  posterity.    He  died  in  1695. 

Gelée  (Claude),  called  Le  Lorrain.  His  father,  who  wanted  to  make 
him  a  pastrycook,  did  not  foresee  that  one  day  his  son  would  paint 
pictures  which  should  be  regarded  as  the  work  of  one  of  the  neatest 
landscape  painters  of  Europe.    He  died  at  Rome  in  1678. 

Caze  (Pierre  Jacques).  There  are  pictures  of  his  that  are  beginning 
to  command  high  prices.  France  is  too  slow  in  doing  justice  to  good 
artists,  and  their  middling  works  do  too  much  injury  to 
their  masterpieces.  The  Italians,  on  the  contrary,  overlook 
the  inferior  in  favour  of  the  excellent,  Every  other 
nation  tries  to  make  the  most  of  itself,  but  the  French 
make  the  most  of  the  other  nations  in  every  way. 

Parrocel  (Joseph),  born  in  1648,  was  a  clever  painter, 
and  surpassed  by  his  son.    He  died  in  1704. 

J  O  U  VENET 

(Jean),  born  at 
Rouen  in  1644, 
was  a  pupil  of 
Lebrun,  but  in- 
ferior to  his  mas- 
ter, although  a 
good  painter.  He  ^ 
painted  almost  all 
objects  slightly 


NYMPH  WITH  A  SHELL. 
(Marble  figure  by  Coysevox. — Musée  du  Louvre.) 


PAINTERS 


327 


THE  SAONE. 

(lironze  statue  by  Coustou,  decorating  t lio  base  of  tlie  statue  of 
Louis  XÏV.  at  Lynns.— Hotel  de  Ville,  Lyons.) 


yellow  :  a  singular  defect  of  vision 
made  him  see  them  yellow.  He  became 
paralytic  in  the  right  arm,  but  prac- 
tised painting  with  his  left,  and  there 
are  great  compositions  of  his  executed 
in  that  manner.    He  died  in  1717. 

Santerre  (Jean  Baptiste).  There 
are  some  admirable  easel-pieces  of  his  ; 
they  are  true  and  tender  in  colour. 
His  picture  of  Adam  and  Eve  is  one 
of  the  finest  in  Europe.  That  of 
Saint  Teresa  in  the  chapel  of  Versailles 
is  a  masterpiece  of  grace  ;  it  is,  however,  too  voluptuous  for  an  altar- 
picture.    Santerre  was  born  in  1651,  and  died  in  1717. 

La  Fosse  (Charles  de)  resembled  Santerre  in  many  points. 
Boulogne  (Bon).    An  excellent  painter  :  the  proof  is  that  he  received 
high  prices  for  his  pictures. 

Boulogne  (Louis).  His  paintings,  though  not  deficient  in  merit,  are 
less  in  request  than  those  of  his  brother. 

R.AOUX,  an  uncertain  painter,  but  when 
he  succeeded,  he  wTas  equal  to  Rembrandt. 

Rig  au  d  (Hyacinthe)  was  born  at  Perpig- 
nan in  1663.    Although  his  reputation  was  for 

portrait  paint- 
ing only,  his 
great  picture 
of  Cardinal  de 
Bouillon  open- 
ing the  sacred 
year,  is  a  mas- 
terpiece e<]  ual 
to  the  finest 
works  of  Ru- 
bens. He  died 
in  1743. 

De  Troy 

A  LION  STRIKING  DOWN  A  WOLF.  (Fl'anCOis) 
(Bronze  group  by  Van  (  lève  for  the  Fountain  of  Liana  in  the  Gardens  oJ  Versailles.)  V         '       >  / 


328 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


painted  in  the  style  of  Rigaud.  Some  historical  pictures  by  his  son  are 
also  admired. 

Watteau  (Antoine)  did  for  the  graceful  what  Teniers  did  for  the 
grotesque.    He  had  pupils  whose  works  are  in  demand. 

Le  Moine,  born  in  Paris  in  1688,  has  perhaps   surpassed  all  these 
painters  by  his  composition  in  the  Salon  d'Hercule 
at  Versailles.     This  apotheosis  of  Hercules  was  a 
tribute  of  flattery  to  Cardinal  Hercule  de  Fleury, 
who  had  nothing  in  common  with  the  Hercules  of 
fable.      It  would  have  been  better  to  have  repre- 
sented the  apotheosis  of  Henri  IV.  in  the  salon  of 
a  king  of  France.    Le  Moine,  who  was  envied  by 
his  fellow-artists  and  thought  himself  ill- 
recompensed  by  the    Cardinal,  destroyed 
\        himself  in  despair  in  1737. 
;  Other  artists  have  excelled  like  Des- 

POETES  and  Oudry  in  painting  animals  ; 
others  have  been  successful  in  miniature, 
and  several  in  portraits. 

Some  painters,  and  especially  the  famous 
Vanloo,  have  distinguished  themselves  since 
the  greater  days,  and  we  may  be  sure  the 
art  will  not  die  out  in  France. 

SCULPTORS,  ARCHITECTS,  ENGRAVERS, 
ETC. 

Sculpture  reached  its  perfection  under 
Louis  XIV.,  and  has  fully  maintained  its 
position  under  Louis  XV. 

(Collection  of  Madame  Moreau  Nélatou.)  SÀRRASIN     (Jacques),     bom     ill  1598, 

executed  several  masterpieces  at  Rome  for  Pope  Clement  VIII.  He 
worked  in  Paris  with  equal  success.    He  died  in  1660. 

Pu  get  (Pierre),  born  at  Marseilles  in  1G23,  was  an  architect,  sculptor 
and  painter.  He  is  famous  for  several  masterpieces  now  at  Marseilles  and 
Versailles.    He  died  in  1694. 

Le  Gros  and  Théodon  have  adorned  Italy  with  their  works.  They 
executed  in  Rome  two  models  each,  and  took  the  prize  above  all  the 


A  FEMALE  FAUN,   MARBLE  BUST  ATTRIBUTED 
TO  SARRASIN. 


SCULPTORS    OF    THE    REIGN  329 

other  competitors,  and  are  reckoned  among  masterpieces.  Le  Gros  died  at 
Rome  in  1719. 

Girardon  (Francois),  Lorn  in  1638,  has  equalled  the  finest  work  of 
antiquity  by  his  Baths  of  Apollo,  and  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  de  Richelieu. 
He  died  in  1715. 

CoYSEVOX,  CouSTOU,  and  many  others  were  highly  distinguished 
artists,  and  are  even  surpassed  by  three  or  four  of  our  modern 
sculptors. 

Chauveau,  Nanteuil,  Mellan,  Audran,  Edelinck,  Leclerc,  Drevet, 
poilly,  plcart,  duchaxoe, 
succeeded  by  superior  artists, 
excelled  in  engraving  on 
copper,  and  their  works  are  to 
be  found  all  over  Europe  in  the 
cabinets  of  persons  who  cannot 
afford  to  buy  pictures. 

Goldsmiths  like  Claude 
Balin  and  Pierre  Germain 
well  deserve  to  be  ranked 
amongst  the  most  celebrated 
artists  for  beauty  of  design 
and  elegance  of  execution. 

It  is  more  difficult  for  a 
genius  born  with  a  fine  taste 
for  architecture  to  convince  the 
world  of  his  talents  than  for 
other  artists.  He  cannot  erect 
great  monuments  unless  princes 

ANTOINIC  COÏS1ÎVOX. 

will    order    them.       More    t  han  (From  the  portrait  by  G..A110U.— Musée. de  Versailles.) 

one  good  architect  has  found  no  work. 

Mansard  (François)  was  one  of  the  foremost  architects  in  Europe.  The 
château,  or  rather  the  palace  of  Maisons,  near  St.  Germain,  is  a 
masterpiece,  because  he  was  quite  free  to  follow  the  bent  of  his  genius. 

Mansard  (Jules  Hardouin),  his  nephew,  made  an  immense  fortune 
under  Louis  XIV.  as  Superintendent  of  Buildings  to  the  King.  The 
fine  Chapel  of  the  Invalides  is  from  his  designs.  He  was  unable  fully  to 
display  his  ability  in  that  of  Versailles,  because  of  the  difficulties  presented 

2  U 


330 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


by  the  site,  as  he  was  obliged  to  retain  the  small  chateau  (that  of 
Louis  XIII.),  which  has  been  mentioned  previously. 

It  is  a  reproach  to  the  city  of  Paris  that  it  possesses  only  two  fine 
fountains  :  the  old  one  by  Jean  Goujon,  and  the  new  by  Bouchardon  ; 
both  these  are  ill-placed.  Complaint  is  also  made  that  there  is  no  fine 
theatre,  except  that  of    the   Louvre,  which   is  not  used,  and  that  the 

people  assemble  in  tasteless,  ill- 
proportioned,  unadorned  rooms, 
badly-placed  and  badly-built  ; 
while  the  provincial  towns 
set  examples  to  the  capital 
which  have  not  yet  been 
followed. 

France  has  other  public 
buildings,  works  of  much 
greater  importance  ;  vast  hos- 
pitals, stone  bridges,  quays, 
river  embankments,  canals, 
locks,  ports.  The  military  archi- 
tecture of  the  frontier  forts 
admirably  combines  strength 
with  beauty.  The  works  exe- 
cuted from  the  designs  of 
Perrault,  Lev  au  and  Dorbay 
are  well  known. 

The  art  of  making  gardens 

PIERRE  FUGET,   BY  HIMSELF. 

(Museum  of  Aix.)  nas  been  created  and  brought 

to  perfection  in  the  beautiful  by 
Le  Nôtre,  and  in  the  useful  by  La  Quintinie.  It  is  not  true  that 
Le  Nôtre  carried  simplicity  to  the  extent  of  familiarly  embracing  the  King 
and  the  Pope.  His  pupil  Collineau  has  assured  me  that  the  stories  to  this 
effect  are  false  ;  but  testimony  is  not  really  required  to  make  us  aware 
that  a  keeper  of  the  royal  gardens  does  not  kiss  popes  and  kings  on 
both  cheeks. 

The  engraving  of  gems  and  medals,  and  the  casting  of  type 
for  printing  have  all  been  advanced  by  the  rapid  progress  of  other 
arts. 


THE  ENCYCLOPAEDIA 


331 


Clockmakers,  whom  we  may  regard  as 
physicists  in  practice,  have  shown  great  ability 
in  their  craft. 

Stuffs,  and  even  the  gold  that  embellishes 
them,  have  been  blended  with  such  taste  and 
skill  that,  apart  from  their  use  as  articles  of 
luxury,  many  deserve  to  be  preserved  as 
examples  of  industrial  art. 

In  fact,  the  past  century  has  enabled  ours  to 
embody  and  transmit  the  sciences  and  the  arts, 
advanced  as  far  as  human  industry  has  been  able 
to  go,  to  posterity  :  a  society  of  learned  men 
highly  gifted  with  intelligence  have  wrought  at 
this  task.  Their  immense  and  immortal  work 
(the  Encyclopédie)  seems  to  reproach  the  brevity  of  human  life.  It  was  begun 
by  d'Alembert  and  Diderot;  it  has  been  crossed  and  persecuted  by  envy  and 
ignorance,  according  to  the  destiny 
of  all  great,  enterprises.  It  would 
have  been  well  if  some  foreign  hands 
had  not  disfigured  that  important 
work  by  puerile  declamation  and 
feeble  commonplace,  which  however 
do  not  injure  the  value  of  the 
remainder  to  the  human  race. 


CANDLE-BRACKET  PROM  THE  PALACE 
OF  VERSAILLES. 

(Collection  of  M.  Charles  Rosalgneux.) 


We  should  have  wished  to  add 
the  principal  works  of  the  artists 
who  figure  in  the  list  drawn  out  by 
Voltaire,  and  even  of  very  great 
ones  who  do  not  figure  in  it — for 
that  list  creates  interest  even  by  its 
omissions,  and  especially  by  the 
writer's  surprising  opinions.  But 
the  scope  of  the  work  did  not 
permit  us  to  do  this. 


CABINET  BY  BOULLE. 
(Kroni  a  desigu  by  Hérain.— Musée  du  Louvre.) 


.'532 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


DOORWAY  OF  THE  HÔTEL  DE  VILLE  AT  TOULON  BY  PIERRE  PUGET. 


We  propose,  however,  to  call  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  the 
painters  and  sculptors  whom  Voltaire  does  not  mention,  or  seems  not  to 
estimate  at  their  true  worth.  Among  the  neglected  painters  is  Philippe 
de  Champagne,  whose  memory  we  recall  by  one  of  his  finest  paintings. 
Among  the  sculptors  we  have  selected  masterly  works  by  Puget,  Coysevox, 
and  Van  Clève,  to  all  of  whom,  so  devoted  was  he  to  the  art  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  author  of  "  Le  Siècle  de  Louis  XIV."  seems  to 
prefer  Girardon. 

This  book  as  a  whole  is  a  gallery  of  the  art  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

We  have  united  the  art,  the  life,  and  the  thought  of  the  Great 
Century  in  one  picture,  to  make  it  more  easily  understood.    The  remarkable 


ART,    LIFE,    AND    THOUGHT    OF    THF  CENTURY 


3:53 


portraits  of  that  epoch,  regarded 
in  relation  to  the  judgments 
passed  by  Voltaire,  Saint-Simon, 
and  many  others  upon  the  King, 
his  courtiers,  and  his  ministers, 
account  for  the  personages  in 
the  foreground.  The  social  and 
ceremonial  scenes  rendered  by 
our  engravers  and  the  authors 
of  French  or  Dutch  caricatures, 
by  designers  of  fashion-plates 
or  almanacs,  explain  and  define 
the  changes  that  were  made 
under  the  eyes  of  Voltaire  and 
La  Bruyère  in  the  France  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  A 
medal  is  often  the  best  com- 
mentary on  an  event,  or  an 
institution  commemorated  by 
the  contemporaries  to  whom 
we  have  to  look  for  an  explanation 


ICE-BOWL  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTl/KY  IN  C'AHVEU  COI'l'EH. 
(Collection  of  M.  Edmond  Gucriu.) 


JEAN  VABIN. 

•'rom  a  portrait  attributed  to  Cl.  Lefebvre.— Musée  de  Versailles.) 

of  it.  A  direct  and  striking  impres- 
sion, which  is  both  real  and  aesthetic, 
may  be  gained  by  combining  a  written 
record  of  the  past  to  which  the  his- 
torian has  restored  life  and  local  colour, 
with  a  painting  by  an  artist  who  under- 
stood the  period  that  he  illustrated. 
If  there  be  an  epoch  that  may  be 
treated  by  this  method  with  profit, 
surely  it  is  the  seventeenth  century. 
Within  its  bounds  everything  tended 
to  unity — manners,  laws,  art,  thought, 
and  beliefs;  when  Colbert  gave  com- 
missions to  Lebrun,  by  order  of  the 
King  and  under  his  eyes,  and  Lebrun 
to  Coysevox.  For  those  who  prefer  a 
separate  study  of  the  features  of  the 


334  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

time,  it  is  easy  to  find  compositions  by  Lebrun  ;  portraits  by  Lefebvre, 
Rigaud,  and  Mignard  ;  basts  by  Warm,  Coysevox,  and  Desjardins  ;  medals 
by  Legros  ;  prints  by  Mellan,  Audran,  Sébastien  Leclerc,  Poilly,  and 
Edelinck  ;  furniture  by  Boulle  ;  vases  by  Tuby  and  Ballin.  The  reader  has 
only  to  refer  to  the  table  of  illustrations  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 

In  a  word,  the  subject  of  the  fine  arts  is  not  confined  to  this  present 
chapter  ;  it  forms  our  entire  book,  that  picture  of  the  Great  Century  itself, 
which  we  have  endeavoured  to  reconstruct  with  the  assistance  of  its 
contemporary  writers  and  artists. 


PORPHYKT  VASE. 

(Made  by  orJer  of  Louis  XIV.  after  the  melting-down 
of  the  gold  and  silver  plate  in  1709.) 

(Musée  de  Versailles,  *alle  des  Gardes  de  la  Keine.) 


THE  ARMS  OF  THE  DAUPHIN  BORNE  BY  LOVES. 


(Heailing  by  Cuauveau  for  the  collection  of  Courses  de  '/Vies  et  de  /Int/iies,  from  the  Imprimerie  Royale.) 
(From  tlie  Illuminated  copy  in  the  Library  of  Versailles.) 


IV 

THE     FINE     ARTS     IN      EUROPE     IN     THE  TIME 
OF    LOUIS  XIV. 


VVTE  have  constantly  implied  in  the  course 
Y*  of  this  history  that  the  almost  unbroken 
succession  of  public  disasters  of  which  it  is 
composed  arc  now  expunged  from  the  register 
of  time.  The  details  and  the  schemes  of 
politics  fall  into  oblivion  :  the  good  laws,  the 
institutions,  the  monuments  of  science  and 
art  last  for  ever. 

The  crowd  of  strangers  who  now  flock  to 

ORNAMENTAL   LETTER  IN  HONOUR 

of  louis  xiv.  Rome,  not  as  pilgrims,  but  as  connoisseurs,  take 

little  heed  of  Gregory  VII.  or  of  Boniface  VIII.  ; 
they  admire  the  churches  built  by  Bramante  and  Michael  Angelo,  the 
paintings  of  Rafaelle,  the  sculptures  of  Bernini  ;  if  they  are  men  of 
intellect  they  read  Tasso  and  Ariosto,  and  they  respect  the  ashes  of  Galileo. 
In  England  there  may  be  a  passing  mention  of  Cromwell  ;  the  Wars  of 
the  Roses  are  no  longer  discussed,  but  Newton's  works  form  the  study  of 
years.  No  one  is  surprised  to  read  in  his  epitaph  that  he  was  "  decus 
humani  generis,"  but  everybody  would  be  astonished  to  find  such  an 
inscription  on  the  tomb  of  any  statesman. 


330 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


I  wish  I  could  do  justice  here  to  all  the  great  men  who,  like  him, 
have  made  their  country  illustrious  during  the  great  century.  I  have  called 
it  the  Century  of  Louis  XIV.,  not  only  because  that  monarch  patronised 
the  arts  much  more  actively  than  all  his  contemporaries  put  together,  but 

also  because  he  outlived  three  generations 
of  the  princes  of  Europe.  I  have  placed 
that  epoch  some  years  before  Louis  XIV. 
and  some  years  after  him  ;  it  is  in  fact 
within  this  space  of  time  that  the  human 
mind  has  made  its  most  signal  progress. 

Between  1GG0  and  our  own  days, 
the  English  have  advanced  in  every 
respect  more  than  in  all  the  preceding 
centuries.  I  will  not  repeat  here  what  I 
have  said  elsewhere  of  Milton.  Criticism 
of  his  "  Paradise  Lost  "  and  his  "  Paradise 
Regained  "  has  exhausted  itself,  but  his 
praise  is  not  exhausted.  Milton  remains 
the  glory  and  the  admiration  of  England  : 
he  is  compared  to  Homer,  whose  defects 
were  equally  great,  and  he  is  placed 
above  Dante,  whose  conceptions  are  still 
more  fantastic. 

Among  the  large  number  of 
pleasing  poets  who  adorned  the 
reign  of  Charles  II. — for  instance, 
Waller,  the  Earls  of  Dorset  and 
Rochester,  the  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham, and  others  —  the  famous 
Dryden  towers  aloft.  He  excelled 
in  every  kind  of  poetry  :  his 
works  abound  in  natural  and,  at 
the  same  time,  brilliant,  animated,  bold,  vigorous  and  passionate  detail. 
In  the  latter  quality  he  is  unrivalled  by  any  poet  of  his  own  country,  and 
unsurpassed  by  the  ancients.  If  Pope,  who  came  after  him,  had  not 
written  his  "  Essay  on  Man  "  towards  the  close  of  his  life,  he  could  not 
come  into  the  line  of  comparison  with  Dryden. 


THE  CHASTE  SUSANNA. 

(A  carving  in  ivory  attribute  1  to  Bernini.) 
(Collection  of  Madame  Morean  Nélaton.) 


ENGLISH    AUTHORS    AND  ORATORS 


337 


The  treatment  of  morals  by  the  English  poets  is  at  once  bold  and 
thoughtful  ;  this,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  chief  merit  of  their  verse. 

There  is  another  sort  of  serious  literature,  which  requires  talent  of  an 
even  more  cultivated  and  expansive  order  ;  such  ability  was  Addison's.  Not 
only  has  he  immortalised  himself  by  his  "  Cato,"  the  only  English  tragedy 
written  with  elegance  and  in  a 
lofty  tone,  but  his  other  moral 
and  critical  works  are  models 
of  good  taste  and  good  sense, 
adorned  by  imagination.  His 
manner  of  writing  is  an  excel- 
lent model  for  any  country. 
In  several  of  his  productions 
Dean  Swift  has  gone  beyond 
the  licence  of  the  ancients  ; 
he  has  outdone  Rabelais. 


The  English  know  nothing 
about  funeral  orations — it  is 
not  their  custom  to  eulogise 
kings  and  queens  in  their 
churches — but  pulpit  eloquence, 
which  was  of  a  rude  kind  in 
London  before  Charles  II., 
became  suddenly  polished. 
Bishop  Burnet  owns  in  his 
Memoirs  that  the  change  was 
due  to  the  imitation  of  French 
preachers.  The  English  clergy 
have  surpassed  their  masters  in  one  respect 
less  affected,  and  less  declamatory, 


.-  y*ï-    "  -  : 


//"./„ —  .  ..  Z^ÛZ/y&Zir2 


tU *JrJ  '/m  O+ir  .^.M»--.  — 


PORTRAIT  OF  JOHN  MILTON. 

(From  an  al]p|iciriial  picture  preserved  by  \\\*  family  ani 
engraved  in  the  eighteenth  century.') 


their  sermons  are  less  formal, 


The  tribute  paid  by  Voltaire  to  the  English  writers  is  inspired  by 
the  estimate  of  them  which  he  formed  when  he  frequented  their  society 
in  early  life.  It  may  almost  be  said,  indeed,  that  it  was  in  their  school 
he  learned  to  appreciate  the  great  French  century  whose  close  he  saw  ;  and 
he  very  justly  introduces  an  eulogium  upon  them  into  his  essay  on  the 

2  X 


338 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Century  of  Louis  XIV.  In  his  "  Lettres  sur  l'Angleterre,"  which  had 
appeared  long  before  (in  1727),  Voltaire  made  this  eulogium  more 
complete  and  explicit  : — 

"  In  England,"  he  wrote,  "  people  commonly  think,  and  letters  are 
more  highly  honoured  than  here.  This  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  the 
form  of  their  government.  The  whole  nation  is  under  the  necessity  of 
educating  itself.    Such  is  the  respect  of  the  people  for  talent  that  a  man 

of  merit  always  succeeds  there. 
Go  to  Westminster  Abbey  ;  it 
is  not  the  tombs  of  kings  that 
are  admired,  it  is  the  monu- 
ments raised  by  the  gratitude 
of  the  nation  to  the  great  men 
who  have  contributed  to  the 
fame  of  the  country.  Their 
statues  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
Abbey,  as  those  of  Sophocles 
and  Plato  were  to  be  seen  at 
Athens." 

Voltaire  himself  has  raised 
a  monument  to  those  English 
writers  in  the  finished  form  in 
which  he  commends  them  to 
the  admiration  of  the  French, 
as  follows  : — 

"  Those  who  rise  above  the 
usages,  the  prejudices  or  the 
weaknesses  of  their  own  country, 
those  who  are  of  all  time  and  every  land,  those  who  prefer  the  grandeur 
of  philosophy  to  declarations  of  love,  will  find  in  Addison's  '  Cato  '  a 
tragedy  written  from  beginning  to  end  with  that  bold  and  virile  eloquence 
which  abounds  in  the  works  of  Corneille.  The  part  of  Cato  I  regard  as 
one  of  the  finest  within  the  resources  of  the  stage." 

Among  English  writers  of  comedy  the  late  Mr.  Congreve  is  first  and 
most  famous.  He  wrote  only  a  few  plays,  but  they  are  all  excellent  of 
their  kind,  witty  and  well  constructed.  Vanbrugh's  are  the  most  lively, 
and  Wycherley's  the  strongest. 


ENGLISH  SCHOLARS 


.339 


A  man  of  imagination,  endowed  with  a  tenth  part  of  the  sense  of 
the  comic  that  pervades  Butler's  "  Hudibras,"  would  still  be  very 
amusing,  but  he  would  be  very  difficult  to  translate.  It  is  true  that  he 
has  not  the  gaiety  of  our  Curé  de  Meudon,  but  he  has  all  the  finesse, 
reason,  discretion,  judgment,  choiceness  and  good  taste  in  which  Rabelais 
was  déficient.  His  verses  are  written  in  a  singular  style — one  hardly 
possible  of  imitation. 

Y 
+  Y 

It  is  also  remarkable  that 
these  islanders,  separated  from 
the  rest  of  the  world,  and  in- 
structed so  late,  have  acquired 
at  least  as  full  an  acquaintance 
with  antiquity  as  exists  in 
Rome,  which  has  been  so  lon£ 
the  centre  of  nations.  Marsham 
has  broken  into  the  darkness  of 
ancient  Egypt,  and  no  Persian 
knows  the  religion  of  Zoroaster 
as  the  learned  Hyde  knows  it. 
The  Turks  were  ignorant  of 
the  history  of  Mahomet  and 
the  times  that  preceded  him, 
but  it  was  explored  by  Sale, 
the   Englishman   who  has 

travelled     in      Arabia     to     SUcll  (From  the  portrait  by  Dahl,  engraved  by  Simon.) 

good  purpose. 

In  no  country  in  the  world  has  the  Christian  religion  been  so  fiercely 
attacked  and  so  learnedly  defended  as  in  England.  From  Henry  VIII. 
to  Cromwell,  people  disputed,  and  fought  like  the  gladiators  of  old  who 
entered  the  arena  blindfold,  scimitar  in  hand.  Some  slight  differences 
in  worship  and  in  dogma  led  to  terrible  wars  ;  but,  after  the  Restoration 
down  to  our  own  days,  although  Christianity  as  a  whole  has  been  attacked 
year  after  year,  these  disputes  have  not  occasioned  the  slightest  dis- 
turbance ;  they  have  been  answered  by  science  alone,  no  longer  by  fire  and 
sword. 


340 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


In  philosophy  especially  the  English  have  been  teachers  of  the  other 
nations.  Ingenious  systems  were  no  longer  in  question.  The  fables  of 
the  Greeks  had  long  since  disappeared,  and  modern  fable  was  not  to 
appear  at  all.  Lord  Bacon  had  begun  by  saying  that  Nature  must  be 
interrogated  in  a  novel  manner  ;  that  experiments  must  be  made.  Bayle 
passed  his  life  in  making  them. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  a  dissertation  on  physics  ;  suffice  it  to  say 

that  after  three  thousand  years 


I   w  ill  I 


of  vain  research,  Newton  was 
the  first  to  discover  and  to 
demonstrate  the  great  natural 
law  by  which  all  the  elements 
of  matter  are  reciprocally 
attracted,  the  law  by  which 
all  the  stars  are  kept  in  their 
courses.  He  was  the  first  who 
had,  in  fact,  seen  the  light  ; 
before  him  it  was  hardly 
known. 

His  mathematical  principles 
are  founded  on  the  discovery 
of  the  infinitesimal  calculus, 
and  that  effort  was  made  when 
he  was  twenty-four.  It  was  this 
marvellous  achievement  that 
made  the  great  Halley,  another 
learned  philosopher,  say,  "  it  is 
not  permitted  to  a  mortal  to  at- 
tain more  nearly  to  the  divine." 
A  number  of  geometricians  and  physicists  were  encouraged  and 
inspired  by  his  discoveries. 

Halley,  to  whom  I  have  just  referred,  was,  though  simply  an 
astronomer,  placed  in  command  of  a  King's  ship  in  1698.  On  board  his 
ship  he  determined  the  position  of  the  stars  of  the  antarctic  pole,  and 
marked  the  variations  of  the  compass  in  every  part  of  the  known  world. 
The  voyage  of  the  Argonauts  was  but  the  crossing  of  a  river  by  a  boat 
in  comparison  ;  yet  Halley's  voyage  has  hardly  been  spoken  of  in  Europe. 


is 


JONATHAN  SWIFT. 
(I'ahiteil  from  nature  by  Markbani,  engrave;!  by  Burford.) 


ANCIENTS    AND  MODERNS 


341 


Our  indifference  towards  great  things  with  which  we  are  too 
familiar,  and  the  admiration  of  the  Greeks  for  little  things,  is  a  farther 
proof  of  the  vast  superiority  of  our  age  over  the  ancients.  Boileau  in 
France,  and  Sir  William  Temple  in  England,  refused  to  recognise  that 
superiority  ;  they  depreciated  their  age  in  order  to  put  themselves  above 
it.  This  dispute  between  ancients  and  moderns  has  been  finally  decided  ; 
at  least  in  philosophy.  No 
ancient  natural  philosopher  now 
instructs  the  youth  of  any 
country. 

Locke  alone  furnishes  a 
great  example  of  the  advan- 
tage that  our  century  possesses 
over  the  most  illustrious  ages 
of  Greece.  From  the  time  of 
Plato  to  the  time  of  Locke 
there  is  nothing  ;  no  one  in 
that  interval  expounded  the 
operations  of  mind  ;  and  a  man 
who  should  know  all  Plato,  but 
who  should  know  nothing  else 
but  Plato,  would  know  little, 
and  know  that  little  ill. 

Plato  was,  indeed,  an  elo- 
quent Greek  ;  his  "  Phsedo  "  is 
a  great  service  rendered  to  the 
sages  of  all  nations  :  it  is  only 
fair  that  it  should  be  held  in 
honour,  because  it  rendered 
virtue  in  misfortune  so  worthy  of  respect,  and  its  persecutors  so  odious.  It 
was  long  believed  that  his  beautiful  moral  code  could  not  be  accompanied 
by  a  bad  metaphysic,  and  the  latter  was  accepted  on  the  faith  of  the 
former;  but  in  the  present  age  of  science  how  would  we  regard  a 
philosopher  who  should  ask  us  to  believe,  on  the  authority  of  his 
teaching,  that  the  world  is  a  figure  of  twelve  pentagons,  and  the 
other  fantastic  theories  which  he  advances?  Would  the  assertion  that 
sleep  comes   from   waking   and   waking   from   sleep,   that   death  comes 


HALLHY. 

(From  tlio  portrait  by  Kneller,  engraved  by  White.) 


342 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


from  life  and  life  from  death,  be  now  accepted  as  a  proof  of  the  immortality 
and  the  metempsychoses  of  the  soul  ?  Such  is  the  reasoning  that  was 
accepted  for  many  centuries,  and  ideas  still  more  extravagant  have  since 
been  employed  in  the  education  of  men. 

Locke  alone  has  developed  the  human  understanding  in  a  book  that  con- 
tains nothing  but  truths,  and 
the  work  is  rendered  perfect  by 
the  lucidity  of  all  those  truths. 

If  we  would  learn  in  what 
this  last  century  has  surpassed 
every  other,  we  may  glance  at 
Germany  and  the  North. 

Hevelius  at  Dantzig  was 
the  first  astronomer  who  really 
knew  the  moon  ;  no  man  before 
him  had  so  closely  examined 
the  heavens.  Among  the  great 
men  of  the  last  century  who 
afford  proof  that  it  was  well 
and  truly  called  the  Century  of 
Louis  XIV.  is  Hevelius.  He  lost 
a  great  library  by  fire,  and  the 
French  monarch  compensated 
him  for  the  loss  by  a  present 
which  exceeded  it  in  value. 

Mercator  in  Holstein  was 
the  forerunner  of  Newton,  in 
geometry  ;    the   Bernoulli  in 
Switzerland  were  disciples  of 
that  great  man.    Leibnitz  was  for  some  time  regarded  as  his  rival. 

This  famous  Leibnitz  was  born  at  Leipsic,  and  died  like  a  sage  at 
Hanover  ;  he,  like  Newton,  worshipped  a  divine  Being  without  consulting 
men.  He  was  perhaps  the  most  universal  scholar  in  Europe:  indefatigable 
in  research  as  an  historian  ;  a  profound  jurist,  explaining  law  by  philo- 
sophy, foreign  to  the  former  as  the  latter  seemed  to  be  ;  a  profound 
metaphysician  who  tried  to  reconcile  metaphysics  with  theology  ;  a  Latin 
poet;  and  to  crown  all,  a  mathematician  great  enough  to  dispute  the 


SIR  WILLIAM  TEMPLE. 
(Portrait  by  Lely,  engrave;!  by  Houbrokeu.) 


THE    SPREAD    OF  LEARNING 


343 


GEOMETRY. 
(Marble  bust  by  Legros. — Musée  du  Louvre.) 


priority  of  the  discovery  of  the  infinitesimal  calculus  with 
temporary  doubt  of  Newton's  claim. 

This  century  was  also  the  age  of  geometry.  Mathe- 
maticians often  sent  each  other  challenges,  that 
is  to  say,  problems  to  be  solved,  as  it  is  said 
the  ancient  Egyptian  and  Asiatic  kings  inter- 
changed riddles  to  be  guessed.  The  problems 
proposed  to  each  other  by  the  geometricians 
were  more  difficult  than  those  riddles  ;  but  not 
one  of  them  remained  unsolved  in  Germany, 
Italy,  England  or  France.  Never  had  the  cor- 
respondence between  philosophers  been  more 
universal  ;  Leibnitz  served  to  keep  it  alive.  A 
republic  of  letters  has  been  established  in 
Europe,    notwithstanding  the 


wars  and  in  spite  of  religious 
differences.  All  the  sciences, 
all  the  arts  have  been  recip- 
rocally assisted  ;  this  republic 
has  been  formed  by  the 
Academies.  Italy  and  Russia 
have  been  united  by  letters. 
Englishmen,  Germans,  and 
Frenchmen  made  their  studies 
at  Ley  den.  Boerhave,  the 
famous  physician,  was  con- 
sulted both  by  the  Pope  and 
by  the  Czar.  His  greatest 
pupils  also  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  foreigners,  and  became 
the  physicians  of  all  countries  ; 
real  savants  in  every  branch  of 
learning  have  drawn  close  the 


bonds  of  that  great  society  of 
minds  that  exists  everywhere 
and  is  everywhere  indepen- 
dent.   That  correspondence  still 


i'Mi((tc.s-  [o/ui/L/lùi  L  Ot :('('. 


JOHN  LOCKE. 
(From  tlie  portrait  by  Kneller,  engraved  by  De  Vertue.) 


344 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


survives  ;  it  is  one  of  the  consolations  for  the  evils  that  ambition  and 
politics  have  spread  throughout  the  world. 

In  this  century  Italy  has  maintained  her  former  fame,  though  she 
has  had  no  new  Tasso,  or  new  Rafaelle  ;  it  is  enough  to  have  produced 
them  once.  Chiabrera,  Zappi,  Filicaja  have  proved  that  refinement  is  the 
unfailing  gift  of  their  race.     The  "  Mérope  "  of  Maffei,  and  the  dramatic 

works  of  Metastasio,  are  great 
productions  of  the  century. 

The  study  of  true  physics, 
established  by  Galileo,  has  been 
maintained,  notwithstanding  the 
opposition  of  an  ancient  and 
cherished  philosophy.  Cassini, 
Viviani,  Manfredi,  Bianchini, 
Zanotti,  and  several  others 
have  shed  over  Italy  the  same 
light  that  illumined  other 
countries  ;  and  although  the 
chief  rays  of  that  light  came 
from  England,  the  Italian 
schools  did  not  avert  their  gaze 
from  it.  All  kinds  of  learning 
have  been  cultivated  in  that 
ancient  home  of  the  arts  as 
well  as  elsewhere,  except  in 
matters  where  the  freedom  of 
thought  of  other  countries  gives 
greater  scope  to  the  mind.  The 
century  learned  more  of  antiquity  than  all  those  that  preceded  it.  Italy 
furnishes  finer  examples  of  the  art  of  the  old  world  than  all  Europe  put 
together  ;  and  in  proportion  as  these  are  disinterred,  knowledge  is  extended. 

This  progress  is  due  to  certain  men  of  genius  who  were  scattered  in 
small  numbers  over  some  parts  of  Europe.  Almost  all  of  these  lived  for 
a  long  time  in  obscurity,  and  were  frequently  persecuted,  but  they 
enlightened  and  consoled  the  world  while  war  desolated  it.  Lists  may  be 
found  elsewhere  of  those  who  have  made  Germany,  Italy  and  England 
illustrious.     A  foreigner  is  hardly  qualified  to  formulate  an  appreciation 


I'HILIP  SYDENHAM  AT  THE  AGE  OF  TWENTY-FOUR. 
(From  the  portrait  by  Hcese,  engraved  by  Smith.) 


VOLTAIRE    TO    LOUD    H  E  II  V  E  Y 


345 


of  the  merits  of  all  these 
illustrious  men.  It  is  enough 
that  I  have  made  it  plain  that 
mankind  from  one  end  of 
Europe  to  the  other  in  the  last 
century  has  learned  more  than 
in  all  the  preceding  ages  of 
the  world. 


tir 


t 

A  4 


LEIBNITZ. 

(From  au  anonymous  engraving  ol  tue  period,) 


This  picture  of  intellectual 
progressin  the  whole  of  Europe 
in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  em- 
bodies  the  idea  which  Voltaire 
had  formed  of  the  Great  Cen- 
tury, the  greatest  since  that  of 
Leo  X.  Before  the  publication 
of  his  hook  the  author  had 
occasion  to  reply  to  one  of  his 
English  friends,  Lord  Hervey, 
who  blamed  him  for  having  ascribed  all  the  renown  of  his  age  to 
Louis  XIV.    His  explanation  justifies  him  amply  : — - 

"  Do  not  be  so  angry  with  me 
because  I  call  the  last  century  the 
Century  of  Louis  XIV.  1  am  well 
aware  that  Louis  XIV.  had  not  the 
honour  of  being  the  sovereign  and 
the  patron  of  a  Bayle,  a  Newton,  a 
Halley,  an  Addison,  or  a  Dry  den  ;  but 
did  the  Pope  do  everything  in  the  age 
which  is  called  the  age  of  Leo  X.  ? 
Were  there  not  other  princes  who 
contributed  to  the  growth  of  en- 
lightenment and  the  refining  of  the 
human  kind  ?    Nevertheless,  the  name 

LOUIS  XIV. 

of  Leo  X.   is  foremost,  because  he, 

(Medal  uelougiug  to  Baron  Jérôme  Pichcn.) 

2  Y 


346 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


beyond  any  other,  encouraged  the  arts.  Well  then,  what  king  has 
rendered  greater  services  to  humanity  in  that  same  way  than  Louis  XIV.  ? 
Name  me  a  sovereign  who  has  drawn  foreigners  of  genius  and  learning 
to  his  country  as  this  King  has  drawn  them.  Have  not  the  great  writers 
of  his  time  been  your  models  ?  What  prince  was  there  who  did  not  try 
to  imitate  Louis  XIV.  ?  " 

It  was  the  brightness  of  its  shining  in  France  that  won  for  the  Great 
Century  the  place  it  holds,  and  will  ever  hold,  in  history. 


SCIPIO  MAFFEI. 
(From  the  drawing  aud  engraviug  by  Marcus  Pitted.) 


PORTRAIT  OF  LOUIS  XIV.   SUPPORTED  BY  WISDOM  AND  RELIGION. 

(From  a  frontispiece  taken  from  the  collection  of  Histories  of  France.) 
(Cabinet  of  Engravings.— Bibliothèque  Nationale.) 


I 

ECCLESIASTICAL   AFFATRS. — MEMORABLE  DISPUTES. 


MASS  IN  A  CHURCH  OF  THE 
SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

(Print  by  Lepautre.) 


/^vF  the  three  Estates  of  the  Realm  the 
clergy  is  the,  least  numerous,  and  it  is 
only  in  the  kingdom  of  France  that  it  has 
become  an  "  Estate."  As  an  Estate  the  clergy 
has  always  needed  management  on  the 
part  of  the  sovereign.  To  preserve  union 
with  the  See  of  Rome,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  maintain  the  liberties  of  the  Gallican,  which 
are  the  rights  of  the  ancient,  Church  ;  to  make 
the  Bishops  obey  as  subjects  without  infring- 
ing the  rights  of  the  Episcopate  ;  to  subject 
them  to  secular  jurisdiction,  and  yet  to  leave 
them  free  judgment  in  many  things  ;  to  make 
them  contribute  to  the  needs  of  the  State 
without  violating  their  privileges,  demanded 
dexterity  and  firmness.  Louis  XIV.  was  rarely 
deficient  in  either.  The  French  clergy  were 
gradually  restored  to  the  order  and  decorum 


350 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


which  the  civil  wars  and  the  licence  of  the  times  had  disturbed.  The 
King  no  longer  suffered  laymen  to  hold  livings  under  the  title  of  lay- 
vicars,  or  those  who  were  not  priests  to  have  bishoprics,  as  in  the  case  of 
Cardinal  Mazarin,  who  held  the  bishopric  of  Metz,  although  he  was  not 
even  a  sub-deacon,  and  the  Duc  de  Verneuil,  also  a  layman,  who  had 
likewise  held  that  bishopric. 

The  revenue  paid  to  the  King  by  the  French  clergy  and  the 
conquered  towns  amounted,  on  an  average,  to  two  millions  rive  hundred 

thousand  livres  a  year  ;  and  at  a  later  period, 
the  value  of  money  having  increased,  they 
assisted  the  State  to  the  amount  of  four 
millions  a  year  under  the  name  of  tithes, 
extraordinary  subsidies,  and  free  gifts.  The 
name  and  privilege  of  "  free  gift  "  remain  as  a 
relic  of  the  ancient  usage  by  which  the  feudal 
lords  made  free  gifts  to  the  kings  in  times  of 
State  necessity.  Bishops  and  abbots,  although 
also  feudal  lords,  had  to  supply  soldiers 
at  times  of  feudal  anarchy  only.  Kings 
then  possessed  their  domains  only  like  other 
lords.  Afterwards,  though  all  besides  was 
changed,  the  clergy  continued  to  assist  the 
State  by  "  free  gifts." 

The  Church,  "  whose  goods  are  the  goods 
of  the  poor,"  does  not  claim  exemption  from 
dues  to  the  State  from  which  it  derives 
everything  ;  for  the  kingdom,  when  in  necessity,  is  first  among  the  poor  ; 
but  it  asserts  its  own  right  to  give  voluntary  aid  only,  and  Louis  XIV. 
always  exacted  this  aid  after  an  irresistible  fashion. 

In  Europe  and  in  France  it  has  been  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the 
clergy  pay  so  little,  for  their  "  Estate  "  is  held  to  be  a  "  third  "  of  the 
realm.  If  the  clergy  possessed  that  third  they  ought  undoubtedly  to  bear 
a  third  of  the  expenses  ;  these,  in  an  ordinary  year,  would  amount  to  over 
fifty  millions,  apart  from  the  taxes  upon  articles  of  consumption  which 
they  pay  in  common  with  the  whole  of  the  nation  ;  but  this  is  not  the  case. 

The  Church  of  France  is  the  least  wealthy  of  all  the  Catholic  Churches. 
No  French  bishop  had  acquired  possession  of  a  great  sovereignty  like  that 


MASS   IN    A   CHURCH    OF  THK 
SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(From  a  print  by  Lepautre.) 


ECCLESIASTICAL  FINANCE 


351 


of  Rome,  and  no  French  abbots  hold  sovereign  rights,  as  the  Abbot  of 
Monte  Cassino  and  the  German  abbots  do.  As  a  rule,  French  bishoprics 
have  but  moderate  revenues.  Strasburg  and  Cambray  are  the  most 
important  sees  ;  but  they  originally  belonged  to  Germany,  and  the  German 
Church  was  far  more  wealthy  than  the  Empire. 

Giannone  states  in  his  history  of  Naples  that  the  Church  possesses 
two-thirds  of  the  revenue  of  the  country.  No  such  abuse  exists  in 
France.  We  say  that  the 
Church  possesses  one-third  of 
the  realm,  just  as  we  say  there 
are  a  million  inhabitants  in 
Paris.  If  we  were  to  compute 
the  revenue  of  the  bishoprics, 
we  should  find,  on  the  evidence 
of  the  leases  granted  within 
fifty  years,  that  the  whole  of 
the  bishoprics  then  existing 
were  valued  at  an  annual 
revenue  of  four  millions,  and 
the  abbacies  in  trust  at  four 
million  five  hundred  thousand 
francs.  It  is  true  that  this 
was  one-third  below  the  actual 
value,  and,  if  the  increase  of 
revenues  from  land  lie  added, 
the  sum  total  of  the  income  of 
the  whole  of  the  Consistorial 
livings  would  come  to  nearly 
sixteen  millions.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  this  sum  goes  yearly  to  Rome  as  "first-fruits," 
never  comes  back,  and  is  a  dead  loss  to  France.  This  liberality  on 
the  part  of  the  King  towards  the  Holy  See  deprives  the  State  in  a 
century  of  more  than  four  hundred  thousand  silver  marcs,  and  would, 
in  course  of  time,  impoverish  the  kingdom,  did  not  commerce  abundantly 
repair  the  loss. 

To  these  benefices  which  pay  first-fruits  to  Rome  we  must  add 
curacies,   convents,    collegiate   churches,    communities,  and   all   the  other 


AN  ABBÉ  WEARING  A  CASSOCK. 
(From  an  engraving  by  Bonnait.) 


352 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


ecclesiastical  belongings,  but,  if  these  be  valued  at  fifty  millions  per 
annum  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  kingdom,  the  result  will  lie 
found  tolerably  correct. 

Persons  who  have  looked  carefully  into  this  matter  fail  to  make 
the  revenues  of  the  whole  Gallican  Church,  secular  and  regular,  exceed 
ninety  millions.  This  is  not  an  exorbitant  sum  for  the  maintenance  of 
ninety  thousand  religious,  and  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
ecclesiastics,  according  to  the  reckoning  in  1700.  And  of  these  ninety 
thousand  monks  more  than  a  third  were  living  on  alms.  Many  cloistered 
monks  do  not  cost  their  monasteries  two  hundred  livres  a  year,  while  the 
revenues  of  each  monastery  may  be  two  hundred  thousand. 

When  the  Clerical  Estate  of  France  makes  a  free  gift  (don  gratuit) 
of  several  millions  to  the  King  in  discharge  of  its  obligations  for  a  term 
of  years,  it  borrows,  and,  having  paid  the  interest,  it  reimburses  its 
creditors  in  full  ;  thus  it  pays  twice  over.  It  would  have  been  more 
reasonable,  and  better  for  both  the  State  and  the  clergy,  had  that  body 
contributed  to  the  funds  of  the  country  in  defined  proportion  to  the 
value  of  each  living.  But  men  are  always  attached  to  their  old  customs. 
The  clergy,  who  assemble  every  five  years,  have  never  had  a  meeting 
place,  or  a  piece  of  furniture  belonging  to  them.  It  is  evident  that  they 
could  have  more  effectually  assisted  the  King  at  less  expense,  and  built 
a  palace  for  themselves  in  Paris,  which  would  have  been  a  lasting 
ornament  to  the  capital.  The  rules  of  the  clergy  of  France  in  the 
minority  of  Louis  XIV.  were  not  yet  entirely  free  from  the  taint  of  the 
League.  In  the  youth  of  Louis  XIII.,  and  in  the  later  meetings  of 
the  States  in  1614,  the  majority  of  the  nation,  which  is  called  the  Third 
Estate,  and  is  really  the  foundation  of  the  State,  demanded,  in  conjunction 
with  the  parliament,  the  laying  down  as  a  fundamental  law  "  that  no 
spiritual  power  can  deprive  kings  of  their  sacred  rights,  which  they 
hold  from  God  alone,  and  that  it  is  a  crime  of  lèse-majesté  in  the 
highest  degree  to  teach  that  kings  may  be  deposed  and  killed." 

This  is  the  substance  of  the  demand  of  the  nation  which  was  made 
just  after  the  assassination  of  Henri  IV.  Cardinal  Duperron,  a  Bishop  of 
France,  born  in  France,  strongly  opposed  this  demand  under  the  pretext 
that  it  was  not  for  the  Third  Estate  to  propose  laws  on  that  which 
concerns  the  Church.  Why  then  did  not  he  and  the  clergy  do  that  which 
the  Third  Estate  would  have  done  ?     On  the  contrary,  he  declared  that 


THE    COURT  OVERRULED 


353 


the  power  of  the  Pope  was  plenary,  direct  in  spiritual  matters,  indirect 
in  temporal  matters,  and  he  charged  the  clergy  to  announce  that  those 
who  asserted  that  the  Pope  could  not  depose  kings  should  be  excom- 
municated." The  nobility  acquiesced,  the  Third  Estate  was  silenced.  The 
parliament  renewed  its  former  decrees  by  which  the  Crown  was  declared 
independent,  and  the   person  of  kings  sacred.     The  ecclesiastical  court 


t'Hl'Rl'H  l'KOCKSSION  IN  THJi  SEVENTEENTH  CKNTURY. 

(From  a  painting  by  tiio  brothers  Le  Nain. — Mnsée  du  Louvre.) 


admitted  that  the  person  of  kings  was  sacred,  but  persisted  in  maintaining 
that  the  Crown  was  dependent,  showing  the  same  spirit  that  had  formerly 
led  to  the  deposition  of  Louis  le  Débonnaire.  That  spirit  now  prevailed 
so  strongly  that  the  court  was  overruled,  and  obliged  to  imprison  the 
printer  who  had  published  the  decree  of  parliament  under  the  title  of  "  loi 
fondamentale."  This  was  professedly  done  for  the  sake  of  peace,  but  it  was 
really  done  to  punish  those  who  furnished  the  Crown  with  defensive  arms. 
The   beaten   cause    was   so  much    that   of  all   crowned  heads  that 

2  z 


354 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


James  I.,  King  of  England,  wrote  against  Cardinal  Duperron,  and  that  is 
the  best  thing  he  ever  did.  It  was  also  the  cause  of  the  people,  for 
whose  peace  it  is  necessary  that  their  sovereigns  shall  not  depend  upon  a 
foreign  power.  By  degrees  reason  prevailed,  and  Louis  XIV.,  supported 
by  the  weight  of  his  power,  procured  a  hearing  for  it.  Antonio  Perez 
had  wished  three  things  for  Henri  IV.,  "Rome,  Counsel,  Plenty." 
Louis  XIV.  was  so  well  provided  in  the  two  latter  that  he  had  no  need 

of   the  first.     He  was  careful  to  preserve  the 
custom  of  appeal  against  ecclesiastical  ordinances 
^^£<«v  to  the  parliament  by  writ  of  error  in  all  cases 

where  these  ordinances  affected  the  royal  juris- 
diction.    The   clergy   sometimes   complained  of 
this,  at  other  times  approved  it,  for  although  on 
the  one  hand  those  appeals  maintained  the 
rights  of  the  State  against  episcopal  authority, 
on  the  other  they  made  that  very  authority 
secure  by  supporting  the  privileges  of  the 
Gallican  Church  against  the  claims  of  the 
court  of  Rome.     The  Bishops  regarded  the 
:     parliaments  as  at  once  their  adversaries  and 
their  defenders  ;  and  the  Government  took 
care  that,  religious  quarrels  notwithstanding, 
Hf     the  easily-passed  limits  should  be  observed 
on  both  sides. 


BwlHfliHMK*' 


CHARITY. 

(Marble  bust  by  I.egros  in  the  Louvre.) 


OF  THE   LIBERTIES   OF  THE  GALLICAN 
CHURCH. 


I  'HE  word  "  liberties  "  assumes  subjection.  Liberties  and  privileges 
signify  respectively  exemption  from  a  general  servitude.  The  phrase 
should  have  been  "the  rights"  and  not  "the  liberties"  of  the  Gallican 
Church.  These  rights  are  common  to  all  former  churches.  The  Bishops  of 
Rome  never  had  jurisdiction  over  the  Christian  societies  of  the  empire  of 
the  East,  but  they  invaded  the  whole  of  the  ruined  empire  of  the  West, 
For  a  long  time  the  Church  of  France  was  the  only  one  that  disputed  with 
the  See  of  Rome  those  ancient  rights  which  each  Bishop  conferred  upon 
himself  when,  after  the  first  Council  of  Nice,  ecclesiastical  and  purely 
spiritual  administration  was  formed  upon  the  model  of  the  civil  government. 


THE    H  E  (  i  A  L I  A 


355 


It  cannot  reasonably  be  asserted  that  a  Bishop  of  Rome  possessed  the 
right  to  send  legates  a  latere  to  France  with  power  to  judge,  reform, 
dispense  and  levy  money  from  the  people  ; 

To  command  French  prelates  to  go  to  Rome  to  plead  their  causes  ; 

To  impose  taxes  upon  the  benefices  of  the  kingdom  under  the  name 
of  vacancies,  successions,  transfers,  incompati- 
bilities, commissions,  ninths,  tithes,  first-fruits  ; 

To  excommunicate  the  King's  officers,  and 
so  prevent  the  discharge  of  their  business  ; 

To  render  bastards  capable  of  succession  ; 

To  break  the  wills  of  those  who  die 
without  giving  a  portion  of  their  goods  to  the 
Church  ; 

To  permit  French  ecclesiastics  to  alienate 
their  landed  property  ; 

To  delegate  judges  to  ascertain  the 
legitimacy  of  marriages. 

In  short,  more  than  seventy  assumed 
rights,  against  which  the  parliaments  of 
the  kingdom  have  always  maintained  the 
inherent  liberty  of  the  nation  and  the 
dignity  of  the  Crown,  are  enumerated. 

The  Jesuits  were  held  in  high  esteem 
under  Louis  XIV.,  and  that  the  monarch 
curbed  the  remonstrances  of  the  parliaments 
sharply  is  clear,  seeing  that  he  reigned 
solely  by  himself  :  however,  neither  of  those 
important  bodies  neglected  any  oppor- 
tunity of  repressing  the  claims  of  the 
Court  of  Rome,  and  the  King  always 
approved  of  their  vigilance,  because  in  that 
matter  the  essential  rights  of  the  nation  were  the  rights  of  the  sovereign. 

The  most  important  and  delicate  affair  of  this  kind  was  the  matter 
of  the  regalia.  This  is  a  right  of  the  kings  of  France  to  appoint  to  all 
the  sinecures  of  a  diocese  during  the  vacancy  of  the  see,  and  to  dispose 
of  the  revenues  of  the  bishopric;  at  their  pleasure.  That  prerogative  is 
now  peculiar  to  the  kings  of  France,  but  each  State  has  its  own  customs. 


BUST  OF  THE  VIRGIN. 
(  Attributed  to  Sarrasin,    l'roin  the  Collection  of  Mailame  .Mnrean-Ni 


356 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


The  kings  of  Portugal  enjoy  one-third  of  the  revenues  of  the  bishops  of  1 
their  kingdom.     The  Emperor  has  a  right  to  the  first  prayers  ;  he  has . 
always  conferred  all  the  first  livings  that  fall  vacant.    The  kings  of  Naples 
and  Sicily  have  still  greater  rights  ;  those  of  Rome  are  for  the  most  part 
founded  upon  usage  rather  than  upon  primitive  title. 

The  Merovingian  kings  conferred  bishoprics  and  all  prelacies  by  their 
sole  authority.  In  742  Carloman  created  that  same  Boniface  who  after- 
wards crowned  Pepin.,  as  a  mark  of  his  gratitude,  Archbishop  of  Mayence. 
Many  monuments  of  the  power  the  kings  had  to  dispose  of  these  important 
places  still  remain  :  the  more  important,  the  more  ought  they  to  be 
dependent  upon  the  chief  of  the  State.  The  incoming  of  a  foreign 
bishop   appeared    dangerous  ;    the    nomination   reserved  for    that  bishop 

had  often  meant  an  usurpa- 
tion still  more  dangerous,  and 
had  more  than  once  caused  civil 
war.  Since  kings  conferred 
bishoprics,  it  seemed  just  that 
they  should  preserve  the  small 
privilege  of  disposing  of  the 
revenue  and  appointing  to  sine- 
cures during  the  short  period 

CHANCELLOR  D'aLIGRE  ENFORCING  RESPECT  TO 

the  king's  justice  (1674).  that    intervenes   between  the 

(From  a  print  „f  the  time.)  Qf      &  ^  ^ 

enthronement  of  his  successor.  Several  bishops  of  the  Crown,  under  the 
third  race  (of  kings),  refused  to  recognise  this  right,  which  some  individuals 
among  the  seignorial  class  were  not  strong  enough  to  insist  upon.  The 
Popes  declared  for  the  bishops,  and  these  claims  remained  always  in  a 
mist.  In  1608  the  parliament  under  Henri  IV.  declared  that  the  regalia 
prevailed  over  the  entire  kingdom.  The  clergy  complained,  and  the  king, 
dealing  cautiously  with  the  bishops  and  with  Rome,  handed  over  the 
matter  to  his  Council,  and  took  good  care  not  to  settle  it  himself. 

Cardinals  Richelieu  and  Mazarin  had  several  decrees  for  the  showing 
of  their  titles  by  the  bishops  who  declared  themselves  exempt  made  by 
the  Council.  Nothing  had  been  decided  in  1673  ;  the  king  did  not 
then  venture  to  give  a  single  living  during  the  vacancy  of  a  See  in  any 
of  the  dioceses  situated  beyond  the  Loire. 

At  length,  in  1673,  the  Chancellor,  Étienne  d'Aligre,  sealed  an  edict 


TWO    RESOLUTE  BISHOPS 


351 


by  which  all  the  bishoprics  of  the  kingdom  were  subject  to  the  regalia. 
Two  bishops,  Pavilion,  Bishop  of  Aleth,  and  Caulet,  Bishop  of  Pamiers, 
among  the  most  estimable  men  in  the  kingdom,  obstinately  refused  to 
submit.  They  defended  themselves  at  first  by  plausible  reasons,  which, 
however,  were  met  by  reasons  equally  strong.  When  well-informed  men 
dispute  for  long  it  is  most  likely  the  question  is  not  clear  :  this  was 
indeed  very  obscure,  but  it  was  evident  that  neither  religion  nor  the 
cause  of  order  was  to  be 
served  by  preventing  a  king 
from  doing  in  two  dioceses 
what  he  did  in  all  the  others. 
However,  the  two  Bishops 
were  inflexible.  Neither  the 
one  nor  the  other  had  regis- 
tered his  oath  of  fidelity, 
and  the  King  held  it  as  his 
right  to  appoint  to  the 
canonries  of  their  churches. 

The  two  prelates  excom- 
municated the  canons  ap- 
pointed by  regalia.  They 
were  both  suspected  of 
Jansenism.  Innocent  X.  had 
been  against  them,  but  when 
they  declared  against  the 
claims  of  the  King,  they  had 
Innocent  XI.  (Odescalchi)  on 
their  side.  The  Pope,  who 
was  as  estimable  and  as  obstinate  as  themselves,  took  their  part  strongly. 

The  King  contented  himself  at  first  with  exiling  the  chief  officers 
of  the  two  Bishops.  He  showed  more  moderation  than  did  they  who 
piqued  themselves  on  sanctity.  The  great  age  of  the  Bishop  of  Aleth 
was  respected  ;  he  was  suffered  to  die  in  peace.  The  Bishop  of  Pamiers 
remained  alone  and  unshaken.  lie  redoubled  his  excommunications,  and 
persisted  all  the  more  in  not  registering  his  oath  of  fidelity,  because  he 
believed  that  by  the  terms  of  that  oath  the  Church  was  too  much 
subjected   to  the   monarchy.      The   King   seized  his  temporalities.  The 


ALLEGORICAL  HUNT  ON  THF,  AFFAIR  OF  THF  REGALIA,  1682. 

(Anonymous  engraving  in  the  Gallery  of  Engravings.) 


358  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

Pope  and  the  Jansenists  made  good  the  loss  ;  he  gained  by  being 
deprived  of  his  revenues,  and  died  in  1680  convinced  that  he  had 
maintained  the  cause  of  God  against  the  King.  The  quarrel  did  not 
terminate  with  his  death.  Canons,  named  by  the  King,  went  to  take 
possession  ;  some  religious,  who  claimed  to  be  canons  and  grand-vicaires, 
forced  them  to  leave  the  church,  and  excommunicated  them.  The 
metropolitan,  Montpezat,  Archbishop  of  Toulouse,  in  whose  jurisdiction  the 
matter  lay,  gave  judgment  in  vain  against  these  claimants  to  authority. 
They  appealed  to  Rome,  according  to  the  custom  of  carrying  all  ecclesi- 
astical cases  brought  to  judgment  before  the  Archbishops  of  France  to  the 
Court  of  Rome  :  this  custom  is  opposed  to  the  Gallican  liberties  ;  but 
every  human  government  by  man  is  contradictory.  Decrees  were 
passed  in  parliament.  A  monk,  named  Cerle,  who  was  one  of  these 
grand-vicaires,  annulled  both  the  judgment  of  the  metropolitan  and  the 
decrees  of  the  parliament.  That  tribunal  condemned  him,  in  default,  to 
forfeit  his  head,  and  to  be  dragged  on  a  hurdle.  He  was  executed  in 
effigy.  From  his  retreat  he  defied  both  the  Archbishop  and  the  King, 
and  the  Pope  supported  him.  The  Pontiff'  indeed  did  more  ;  persuaded, 
like  the  Bishop  of  Pamiers,  that  the  right  of  regalia  was  a  wrong  to  the 
Church,  and  that  the  King  had  no  rights  in  Pamiers,  he  annulled  the 
ordinances  of  the  Archbishop  of  Toulouse,  excommunicated  the  new 
grand-vicaires  nominated  by  that  prelate,  with  all  priests  appointed  by 
the  Kino;  "  in  regalia,"  and  their  abettors. 

The  King  convoked  an  Assembly  of  the  Clergy,  composed  of  thirty- 
five  bishops  and  as  many  deputies  of  the  second  order.  The  Jansenists 
for  the  first  time  went  over  to  the  Pope,  and  the  Pope,  an  enemy  of  the 
King's,  favoured  them  without  liking  them.  He  always  prided  himself 
on  resisting  Louis  XIV.  on  every  occasion,  and  afterwards,  in  1689,  he 
joined  with  the  Allies  against  King  James  because  Louis  XIV.  protected 
that  prince  :  it  was,  in  fact,  a  saying  of  the  time  that,  in  order  to  put  an 
end  to  the  troubles  of  Europe  and  the  Church,  King  James  would  have 
to  turn  Huguenot  and  the  Pope  Catholic. 

Meanwhile  the  Assemblies  of  the  Clergy  of  1681  and  1682  unani- 
mously declared  for  the  King.  Another  little  quarrel  had  now  become 
important  :  the  election  to  a  priory  in  a  faubourg  of  Paris  committed  the 
King  and  the  Pope  alike.  The  Roman  Pontiff  had  quashed  an  ordinance 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  and  annulled  his  nomination  to  the  priory. 


CONCESSION    BY    THE  CLERGY 


359 


The  parliament  had  condemned  the  action  of  Rome.  The  Pope  had 
ordered  by  a  bull  that  the  Inquisition  should  have  the  judgment  of  the 
parliament  burned,  and  the  parliament  had  ordered  the  suppression  of  the 
bull.  These  conflicts  have  long  been  the  usual  and  inevitable  effect  of 
the  contradiction  between  a  people's  natural  liberty  of  governing  itself  in 
its  own  land,  and  submission  to  a  foreign  power. 


'Kcit.Iacoi  xvrd,  met  a/le  de  zy/ie,  te  jVrfei&s,  van  Am.  Lndevrt  dr  Gmote .  Mrt  eèn  ijpitmdefic .jpmsçfa  ■  errrfarwen 


LOUIS  XIV.  FAVOURS  CATHOLICISM  BY  RECEIVING  KING  JAMES  AT  VERSAILLES. 
(From  a  Dutch  print  in  the  Hennin  Collection.) 

The  Assembly  of  the  Clergy  took  a  part  which  shows  that  wise  men 
may  yield  with  dignity  to  their  sovereign  without  the  intervention  of 
another  power.  The  clergy  consented  to  the  extension  of  the  right  of 
regalia  to  the  whole  kingdom  ;  but  this  was  a  concession  on  the  part 
of  the  clergy,  who  remitted  their  claims  from  gratitude  to  their  patron,  as 
much  as  it  was  a  formal  avowal  of  the  absolute  rights  of  the  Crown. 

The  Assembly  justified  itself  to  the  Pope  by  a  letter  containing  a 
passage  which  ought  to  be    regarded  as   an   invariable    precept    in  all 


360 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


disputes.  It  is  this  :  "  It  is 
better  to  sacrifice  some  part  of 
one's  rights  than  to  trouble 
the  peace."  The  King,  the 
Gallican  Church,  and  the  two 
parliaments  were  content.  The 
Jansenists  published  some 
libels.   The  Pope  was  inflexible  : 

THE  KIGHTS  OF  THE   "REGALIA.  r 

(From  a  print  by  Lepautre.)  he  annulled  all  the  resolutions 

of  the  Assembly  by  a  brief,  and  summoned  the  bishops  to  retract.  This 
was  matter  enough  to  separate  the  Church  of  France  from  that  of  Kome. 
Under  Cardinals  Richelieu  and  Mazarin  there  had  been  talk  of  making  a 
patriarch.  The  desire  of  all  the  magistrates  was  that  the  tribute  of 
first-fruits  should  no  longer  be  paid  to  Rome  ;  that  Rome  should  no 
longer  nominate  to  livings  in  Brittany  for  six  months  out  of  the  year  ; 
that  French  bishops  should  no  longer  call  themselves  bishops  "  by 
permission  of  the  Holy  See."  If  the  King  had  desired  this,  he  would 
only  have  had  to  say  one  word  ;  he  was  Master  of  the  Assembly 
of  the  Clergy  ;  he  had  the  nation  with  him.  Rome  would  have 
lost  all  by  the  inflexibility  of  an  excellent  Pontiff,  who  could  not 
accommodate  himself  to  the  times  :  in  this  respect  he  differed  from 
every  other  Pope  of  the  century.  But  these  are  ancient  landmarks  which 
are  not  to  be  removed  without  trouble  and  danger.  Higher  interests, 
deeper  passions,  greater  effervescence  of  the  public  mind,  were  needed  to 
break  all  at  once  with  Rome  ;  and  it  was  very  difficult  to  make  that 
division,  while  the  extirpation  of  Calvinism  was  welcome.  It  was  regarded 
as  a  bold  stroke  when  the  four  famous  decisions  of  the  same  Assembly  of 
Clergy  were  published  in  1682. 

1 .  No  power,  either  direct  or 
indirect,  over  things  temporal 
was  given  by  God  to  Peter. 

2.  The  Gallican  Church  ap- 
proves the  Council  of  Constance, 
which  declares  the  General 
Councils  superior  to  the  Pope 
in  things  spiritual. 

3.  The    received  rules, 


THE  FOUR 


PROPOSITIONS 


361 


BRONZE  VESSEL.  FOB  HOLY  WATER  USED  BY 
LOUIS  XIV.,  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

(The  King's  Chamber.— Chateau  de  Versailles.) 


customs,  and  practices  throughout  the  king- 
dom and  in  the  Gallican  Church  must 
remain  immutable. 

4.  The  decisions  of  the  Pope  in 
matters  of  faith  are  not  final  until 
after  the  Church  has  accepted  them. 

All  the  tribunals  and  all  the 
theological  faculties  registered  these 
four  propositions  in  extenso,  and  the 
teaching  of  anything   contrary   to  <; 
them  was  forbidden   by  an  edict. 
This  resolute  stand  was  regarded  at  Rome 
as  a  rebellious  act,  and  by  all  the  protestants 
in  Europe  as  a  futile  effort  by  a  free-born 
Church,  which  had  broken  only  four  links 
of  her  chain. 

These  propositions  were  at  first  supported  by  the  people  with  enthusiasm, 

but  afterwards  less  warmly. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  reign 
of  bonis  XIV.  they  became 
problematic,  and  Cardinal  de 
Kleury  afterwards  caused  them 
to  be  partly  disavowed  by  an 
Assembly  of  the  Clergy.  This 
withdrawal  did  not  cause  any 
remark,  because  men's  minds 
were  not  vet  inflamed,  and  also 
because  nothing  did  make  a  stir 
during  the  ministry  of  Cardinal 
Fleury. 

Meanwhile  Innocent  XI. 
refused  bulls  to  all  the  bishops 
and  commendatory  abbés  nomi- 
nated by  the  King,  so  that  at 
the  death  of  the  Pope,  in  1  (389, 
there  were  twenty -nine  dioceses 
in     France    without  bishops. 

3  A 


CHRIST. 

(Bust  by  1'ierre  I'uget,— JIusee  do  -Marseilles.) 


362 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


These  prelates  received  their  revenues,  but  they  did  not  venture 
to  demand  consecration  or  to  perform  episcopal  functions.  The  idea 
of  creating  a  patriarch  was  revived.  The  quarrel  respecting  the 
privileges  of  the  Ambassadors  at  Rome  complicated  the  situation,  and  made 
men  think  that  at  last  the  time  had  come  to  establish  a  Catholic  Apostolic 
Church  in  France  which  should  not  be  Roman.    The  Public  Prosecutor,  De 

Harlay,  and  the  Attorney-General,  Talon, 
made  this  sufficiently  understood  when, 
in  1G87,  they  appealed  by  writ  of  error 
from  the  bull,  and  denounced  the 
obstinacy  of  the  PojDe  in  leaving  so 
many  Churches  without  pastors.  The 
King  positively  refused  his  consent  to 
this  proceeding,  which  was  in  reality 
more  easy  than  appeared  from  its 
boldness. 

The  cause  of  Pope  Innocent  XI. 
became  the  cause  of  the  Holy  See. 
The  four  propositions  of  the  clergy 
of  France  attacked  the  phantom  of 
Infallibility  (not  believed  but  upheld 
at  Rome)  and  the  real  power  attaching 
to  that  phantom.  Alexander  VII.  and 
Innocent  XII.  took  the  same  course  as 
the  proud  Odescalchi,  although  in  a 
milder  manner.  They  confirmed  the 
condemnation  pronounced  upon  the 
Assembly  of  the  Clergy  ;  they  refused 
bulls  to  the  bishops  ;  in  short,  they 
did  too  much  because  Louis  XIV.  had  done  too  little.  The  bishops  had 
had  enough  of  the  King's  sole  nomination  and  of  remaining  without 
duties  to  discharge,  and  they  asked  permission  of  the  Court  of  France  to 
appease  the  Court  of  Rome. 

The  King  on  his  side  was  tired  of  holding  out,  and  gave  leave. 
Each  of  them  wrote  separately  that  he  was  "  grievously  afflicted  by  the 
proceedings  of  the  Assembly  ;  "  each  declared  in  his  letter  that  he  did  not 
receive  its  decisions  as  decisions  or  its  decrees  as  decrees.     Innocent  XII. 


ALTAR  VASE. 
(Collection  of  Baron  Jérôme  Piclion.) 


THE    CLOSE    OF  STRIFE 


3G3 


[Pignatelli],  more  conciliatory  than  Odescalchi,  was  satisfied  with  their 
action.  The  four  propositions  were  taught  in  France  from  time  to  time 
nevertheless  ;  but  arms  grow  rusty  when  the  fighting  is  over,  and  the 
dispute  remained  in  abeyance,  without  being  decided — a  not  uncommon 
occurrence  in  a  State  which  has  not  invariable  and  recognised 
principles  on  these  matters. 

Louis  XIV.  had  no  other  ecclesiastical  contest  with  Rome,  and  he 
encountered  no  opposition  from  the  clergy  in  temporal  affairs. 

Under  him  the  clergy  earned  public  respect  by  decorum  unknown  in 
the  barbarism  of  the  two  first  races  (of  kings),  in  the  still  more  barbarous 
times  of  the  feudal  government,  and  also  unknown  during  the  civil 
wars  and  in  the  agitation  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII.,  but  especially 
during  the  Fronde,  with  a  few  exceptions. 

It  was  only  then  that  the  eyes  of  the  people  began  to  be  opened  to 
the  superstition  which  they  always  mixed  up  with  their  religion.  Despite 
the  parliament  of  Aix,  and  the  Carmelites,  it  became  lawful  to  assert  that 
Lazarus  and  Mary  of  Magdala  never  had  visited  Provence,  that  Denis 
the  Areopagite  never  had  governed  the  Church  of  Paris.  Mythical  saints, 
false  miracles  and  false  relics  began  to  be  discredited. 

Gaston-Louis  de  Noailles,  Bishop  of  Chàlons-sur-Marne,  and  brother 
of  the  Cardinal,  who  was  equally  pious  and  enlightened,  took  an  exemplary 
part  in  effecting  the  clearance  of  superstitious  notions  and  practices  that 
marked  this  period. 

Some  superstitions,  attached  to  time-honoured  customs,  still  remained, 
and  afforded  a  cause  of  triumph  to  the  sects,  but  the  latter  have  been 
obliged  to  admit  that  in  no  Catholic  community  are  these  abuses  less 
common  and  more  despised  than  in  the  Church  of  France. 

The  truly  philosophical  spirit,  which  did  not  prevail  until  the  middle 
of  the  century,  did  not  extinguish  theological  quarrels  old  or  new:  it  had 
nothing  to  do  with  them.  These  dissensions  are  to  be  dealt  with 
presently. 


MEDALLION  OF  LOUIS  XIV.   BY  BERTINETTI. 
(Collection  of  Tiarnii  Jerome  ficlion.) 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 
(Bas-relief  by  Sarrasin. — Musée  île  Versailles.) 


II 

CALVINISM    IN   TH  E   TIME   OF    LOTIS  XIV 

TT  is  a  grievous  fact  that  the  Christian  Church 
has  always  been  rent  by  dissensions,  and 
that  blood  has  been  shed  throughout  its  history 
by  hands  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the  God 
of  Peace.  Passion  of  this  kind  was  unknown  to 
paganism.  It  did  indeed  cover  the  earth  with 
darkness,  but  sprinkled  it  with  the  blood  of 
animals  only;  and,  although  among  .lews  and 
pagans  human  victims  were  sometimes  consigned 
to  death,  those  sacrifices,  horrible  as  they  were, 

(Medallion  by  Desjardins.— Musée  du  Louvre.) 

did  not  give  rise  to  civil  wars. 
It  was  the  dogmatic  spirit  that  led  to  the  Wars  of  Religion.  I  have 
endeavoured  to  discover  how  and  why  this  dogmatic  spirit,  which  divided 
the  schools  of  pagan  antiquity  without  creating  any  disturbance,  brought 
such  turmoil  upon  us.  Fanaticism  alone  is  not  the  cause  ;  for  Gymno- 
sophists  and  Brahmins,  who  are  the  most  fanatical  of  men,  never  harmed 
any  but  themselves.  Is  not  the  origin  of  this  new  plague  which  has  ravaged 
the  earth  to  be  found  in  the  natural  conflict  between  the  republican  spirit 


366  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

of  the  Early  Churches,  and  the  principle  of  authority,  which  hates  resistance 
of  any  kind  ?  The  secret  assemblies  braved  the  laws  of  Roman  Emperors 
in  their  grottos  and  caves,  gradually  formed  a  state  within  a  State,  and 
became  a  hidden  republic  in  the  midst  of  an  Empire.  Constantine  released 
that  republic  from  underground  to  place  it  beside  the  throne.  The 
authority  attached  to  the  great  sees  soon  found  itself  in  opposition  to 
the  popular  spirit  which  had  hitherto  inspired  all  the  assemblies  of  the 
Christians.  All  authority  is  secretly  distasteful  to  man,  the  more  so 
because  authority  of  every  kind  is  always  encroaching  and  seeking  its 
own  aggrandisement  ;  so  that  men  readily  make  a  duty  of  revolt  when  a 
pretext  believed  to  be  sacred  can  be  found  for  resisting  it.  Thus  one 
party  become  persecutors,  the  others  become  rebels,  and  both  take  God 
to  witness  of  the  justice  of  the  cause  of  each. 

There  was  not  much  dissension  in  the  Latin  Church  of  the  early 
centuries.  Continual  invasion  by  barbarian  foes  virtually  prohibited 
internal  dissension  ;  and  few  dogmas  were  sufficiently  developed  to  define 
and  fix  universal  faith.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  west  rejected  the  worship 
of  images  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne.  Claude,  Bishop  of  Turin,  proscribed 
that  worship,  and  retained  certain  dogmas  which  now  form  the  foundation 
of  protestantism.  These  were  perpetuated  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont, 
Dauphine',  Provence  and  Languedoc  ;  they  came  into  evidence  in  the 
twelfth  century,  they  produced  the  war  of  the  Albigenses  ;  and  passing 
into  the  University  of  Prague  afterwards,  they  gave  rise  to  the  war  of  the 
Hussites.  An  interval  of  hardly  one  hundred  years  elapsed  between  the 
end  of  the  troubles  which  arose  from  the  ashes  of  John  Huss  and  Jérôme 
of  Prague,  and  those  which  were  produced  by  the  sale  of  Indulgences. 
The  ancient  dogmas  embraced  by  the  Vaudois,  the  Albigenses,  and  the 
Hussites,  which  were  renewed  but  differently  exj)ounded  by  Luther  and 
Zwinglius,  were  received  with  avidity  in  Germany,  as  a  pretext  for  seizing 
upon  the  lands  of  which  the  bishops  and  abbots  had  taken  possession,  and 
for  resistance  to  the  emperors,  who  were  then  making  rapid  strides 
towards  despotic  power.  These  dogmas  triumphed  in  Sweden  and 
Denmark  :  in  both  countries  the  people  had  kings,  but  were  free. 

The  English,  who  have  the  spirit  of  independence  by  nature,  first 
adopted  the  dogmas,  then  modified  them,  and  finally  made  a  religion 
for  themselves  out  of  them.  Presbyterianism  established  a  kind  of 
republic  in  Scotland  in  the    troubled  times  ;   its  pedantry  and  austerity 


" THE  REFORM 


367 


were  much  more  intolérable  than  the  severity  of  the  climate  and  the 
tyranny  of  the  bishops.  It  continued  to  he  dangerous  in  Scotland  until 
it  was  put  down  by  reason,  law,  and  force.  "The  Reform"  penetrated 
to  Poland,  and  made  great  progress  in  cities  whose  people  are  not 
enslaved.  The  largest  and  wealthiest  portion  of  the  Swiss  Republic 
embraced  it  readily.  For  the  same  reason  it  was  on  the  point  of  being 
established  in  Venice,  and  would  have  taken  root  there  had  not  Venice 
been  too  near  to  Rome,  and,  probably,  had  not  the  Government  been 
afraid  of  democracy,  to  which  the  people  of  every  Republic  naturally 
aspire,  and  which  was  then  the  chief  aim  of  most  of  the  preachers.  The 
Dutch  did  not  adopt  the  reform  until  after  they  had  thrown  off  the  yoke 
of  Spain.  Geneva,  on  becoming 
Calvinist,  became  an  entirely 
republican  State. 

The  House  of  Austria  kept 
these  sects  out  of  its  States  as 
much  as  possible.  They  took 
hardly  any  hold  in  Spain,  and 
had  been  extirpated  by  sword 
and  fire  in  the  States  of  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  their  cradle. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  Pied- 
montese  valleys  suffered,  in 
1G55,  as  the  people  of  Mérindol 
and  Cahrieres  suffered  in  France 

under  Francois  I.  The  autocrat  Duke  of  Savoy  exterminated  "  the  sect 
so  soon  as  he  deemed  it  dangerous  ;  only  a  few  scattered  members  now 
linger  unnoticed  among  the  rocks  which  shelter  them.  We  do  not  find 
that  the  Lutherans  and  the  Calvinists  caused  much  trouble  under  the  firm 
government  of  Francois  I.  and  Henri  EL;  but  under  their  successors 
religious  quarrels  waxed  fierce.  The  jealousy  of  Condé  and  Coligny,  who 
had  become  Calvinist  because  the  Guises  were  Catholic,  disturbed  the  State. 
The  levity  and  impetuosity  of  the  people,  with  their  enthusiasm  and 
craving  for  novelty,  turned  the  most  polite  of  nations  into  barbarians  for 
a  space  of  forty  years. 

Henri  IV.,  who  was  born  in  that  particular  sect,  and  liked  it,  but 
was   not   strongly   prejudiced    in    favour    of    any,    could    not   reign  in 


CETJELTIKS  CO  M  M  ITTi:  D   UPON  Till:  VAl'DOIS. 
(A  Dutch  satire,  from  a  contemporary  print.) 


368 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


France,  notwithstanding  his  victories  and  his  virtues,  without  renouncing 
Calvinism.  He  had  become  a  Catholic,  but  he  was  not  so  ungrateful  as  to 
be  willing  to  destroy  the  party  to  whom,  in  a  measure,  he  owed  his  crown, 
although  that  party  was  inimical  to  kings  ;  besides,  had  he  been  willing 
to  quell  Calvinist  faction,  he  could  not  have  done  so.  He  petted,  protected, 
and  kept  it  down. 

The  Huguenots  in  France  formed  nearly  a  twelfth  part  of  the  nation 
at  that  time.  Among  them  were  powerful  nobles  ;  and  entire  towns  were 
protestant.  They  had  made  war  on  kings,  whom  they  had  constrained  to 
give  them  places  of  safety.  Henri  III.  had  granted  them  fourteen  towns 
in  Dauphiné  alone  ;  Montauban  and  Nîmes  in  Languedoc,  Saumur,  and 
especially  La  Eochelle,  which  was  a  Bepublie  in  itself,  and  might  be  made 
a  power  by  its  commerce  and  the  favour  of  England.  At  length,  in  1598, 
Henri  IV.  acted  in  accordance  with  his  inclination,  his  policy,  and  even 
his  duty  by  granting  the  celebrated  Edict  of  Nantes  to  the  party.  This 
Edict  was,  in  fact,  only  the  confirmation  of  the  privileges  which  the 
protestants  of  France  had  wrested  by  force  of  arms  from  the  preceding 
kings,  but  Henri  IV.,  whose  throne  was  now  secure,  allowed  them  to 
retain  those  privileges  of  his  own  good  pleasure. 

By  this  Edict  of  Nantes,  more  famous  than  all  the  others  because 
it  bears  the  name  of  Henri  IV.,  every  seigneur  with  feudal  rights  of 
"  high  justice  "  (seigneur  de  fief  haut  justicier)  was  entitled  to  the  full 
exercise  of  the  reformed  religion  ;  every  seigneur  not  possessed  of  those 
rights  "was  entitled  to  admit  thirty  persons  to  a  meeting-house.  The 
complete  exercise  of  "  La  Religion  "  was  authorised  in  all  places  immediately 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  parliament. 

Calvinists  were  allowed  to  have  all  their  books  printed  in  the  towns 
in  which  their  religion  was  permitted,  without  the  ordinary  imprimatur, 
permissu  superiorum.  They  were  declared  capable  of  holding  any  of  the 
offices  and  dignities  of  State,  as  it  immediately  appeared,  since  the  King 
made  the  "  seigneurs  "  La  Tremouille  and  Rosny  dukes  and  peers. 

A  special  Court,  composed  of  a  president  and  sixteen  councillors,  was 
created  in  the  parliament  of  Paris  to  try  all  the  reform  cases,  not  only 
in  the  immense  district  under  the  Paris  jurisdiction,  but  also  in  Normandy 
and  Brittany.  This  wTas  called  the  Court  of  the  Edict.  As  a  fact,  only 
one  Calvinist  was  ever  admitted  of  right  among  the  councillors  of  that 
jurisdiction  ;  but,  as  it  was  destined  to  prevent  the  injustice  complained 


THE    CALVIN  I  ST  ADVANCE 


369 


of  by  the  party,  and  as  m3n  always  pique  themselves  upon  strict  fulfil- 
ment of  a  duty  that  brings  them  distinction,  the  Court,  although 
composed  of  Catholics,  invariably  rendered  entirely  impartial  justice  to  the 
Huguenots,  as  the  latter  admitted. 

They  had  a  sort  of  small  parliament  at  Castres,  independent  of  that 
of  Toulouse.    At  Grenoble  and  Bordeaux  there  were  courts,  partly  Catholic 
and  partly  Calvinist.    Their  Churches,  like  the  Gallican  Church,  assembled 
in  Synods.    These  privileges  and 
many  others  incorporated  the 
Calvinists  with  the  rest  of  the 
nation  ;  it  was  indeed  only  the 
binding   together   of  enemies, 
but  the  authority,  the  kindli- 
ness, and  the  tact  of  the  great 
King  kept  them  down  during 
his  time. 

After  the  terrible  and  de- 
plorable death  of  Henri  IV., 
under  the  disadvantages  of  the 
king's  minority  and  a  divided 
Court,  the  republican  spirit  of 
the  reformed  party  led  it  to 
abuse  its  privileges,  and  the 
Court,  weak  as  it  was,  had  to 
try  to  restrain  it.  The  Hugue- 
nots had  already  established 
clubs  {cercles)  in  France,  in 
imitation  of  Germany.  The 
delegates  of  these  clubs  were 
often  seditious,  and  there  were  many  ambitious  men  among  the  party  of 
the  nobles.  The  Duc  de  Bouillon,  and  especially  the  Duc  de  Rohan,  the 
highest  in  repute  of  the  Huguenot  chiefs,  soon  threw  the  restless  spirit 
of  the  preachers  and  the  blind  zeal  of  the  people  into  revolt.  In  1615, 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  party  presented  a  memorial  to  the  Court 
which  demanded,  among  other  insolent  articles,  that  the  King's  Council 
should  be  reformed.  In  1016,  they  took  up  arms  in  some  places,  and  the 
audacity  of  the   Huguenots  being  added  to  the  dissensions  of  the  Court, 

3  B 


IMilNCIl'Al;  ["OINTS  01    THE  CATHOLIC  FAITH. 

(Frontispiece  by  Mellan  fur  the  Treatise  by 
Cardinal  île  Richelieu  so  entitled.) 


370  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

the  popular  dislike  of  the  favourites,  and  the  prevalent  uneasiness  in  the 
country,  trouble  destined  to  long  continuance  ensued.  The  history  of  the 
movement  is  marked  by  sedition,  intrigue,  threats,  the  taking  up  of 
arms,  peace  made  in  a  hurry  and  as  hastily  broken.  This  state  of 
things  caused  the  celebrated  Cardinal  Bentivoglio,  then  Papal  Nuncio  in 
France,  to  say  that  he  had  seen  nothing  but  storms  there. 

In  the  year  1621,  the  reformed  Churches  of  France  offered  the 
command  of  their  armies  to  the  Duc  de  Lesdiguières,  who  was  afterwards 
Constable  of  France,  with  a  hundred  thousand  crowns  a  month.  But 
Lesdiguières,  who  was  wiser  in  his  ambition  than  they  in  their  spirit  of 
faction,  and  who  knew  them  because  he  had  already  commanded  them, 
preferred  to  fight  them  instead,  and  replied  to  their  offer  by  becoming  a 
Catholic.  The  Huguenots  then  applied  to  the  Maréchal  Duc  de  Bouillon, 
who  replied  that  he  was  too  old.  Finally  they  gave  the  unlucky  post  to  the 
Duc  de  Rohan,  who,  in  conjunction  with  his  brother,  the  Duc  de  Soubise, 
actually  made  war  upon  the  King  of  France. 

That  same  year,  the  Constable  de  Luynes  conducted  Louis  XIII. 
from  province  to  province.  He  subdued  more  than  fifty  towns  without 
resistance,  but  he  failed  before  Montauban,  and  the  King  had  to  endure 
the  mortification  of  retreat.  La  Rochelle  was  besieged  in  vain.  The  town 
held  out,  a  triumph  which  was  partly  due  to  its  own  valour  and  partly 
to  the  assistance  of  England.  The  Duc  de  Rohan,  who  was  guilty  of  the 
crime  of  high  treason,  made  a  treaty  of  peace  with  his  sovereign,  in  almost 
a  sovereign  attitude. 

After  this  peace,  and  after  the  death  of  the  Constable  de  Luynes, 
the  war  was  resumed,  and  La  Rochelle,  still  leagued  with  England  and  the 
Calvinists  against  its  sovereign,  was  besieged  anew.  A  woman  (she  was 
the  mother  of  the  Duc  de  Rohan)  held  the  town  for  a  whole  year  against 
the  King's  army,  against  the  political  action  of  Cardinal  de  Richelieu, 
and  against  the  valour  of  Louis  XIII.,  who  more  than  once  faced  death 
during  the  siege.  The  town  suffered  the  extremity  of  famine,  and  the 
surrender  of  the  fortress  was  solely  due  to  a  dyke,  five  hundred  feet  in 
length,  which,  like  Alexander's  before  Tyre,  had  been  constructed  by 
order  of  Cardinal  de  Richelieu.  The  dyke  defied  the  sea,  and  conquered 
the  defenders  of  La  Rochelle.  G-uiton,  the  Mayor,  who  would  fain  have 
buried  himself  in  the  ruins  of  the  town,  had  the  boldness,  after  he  had 
surrendered  at  discretion,  to  appear  with  his  guards  before  Cardinal  de 


"  THE    EDICT    OF    GRACE  ' 


371 


Richelieu.     The  mayors  of  the   principal  Huguenot  towns  had  guards. 

Gui  ton  was  deprived  of  his,  and  the  town  of  its  privileges.    The  Duc  de 

Rohan,  the  chief  of  the  rebel  heretics,  still  carried  on  the  war  for  his 

party,  and,  being  abandoned  by  the  protestant  English,  leagued  himself 

with  the  Catholic  Spaniards.    But  the  inflexibility  of  Cardinal  de  Richelieu 

forced  the  Huguenots,  who  were  beaten  on  every  side,  to  submit. 

All  the  edicts  which  had  been  granted  to  them  hitherto  had  been 

treaties  with  kings.     Richelieu  insisted  that  the  Edict  now  to  be  issued 

should   be   called   the    "  Edict  of 

Grace."     In  it  the  King  spoke  as 

the  sovereign  who  pardons.  The 

right  of  practising  the  new  religion 

was  taken  away  from  La  Rochelle, 

the  lie  de  Ré,  Oléron,  Privas,  and 

Pamiers.     The   Edict   of  Nantes, 

always  regarded  by  the  Calvinists  as 

their  fundamental  law,  was  allowed 

to  stand. 

It  seems  strange  that  Cardinal 
de  Richelieu,  absolute  and  daring  as 
he  was,  should  not  have  abolished 
this  famous  edict;  but  he  was  then 
cherishing  another  project,  more 
difficult  of  accomplishment  perhaps, 
but  not  less  consistent  with  the 
vastness  of  his  ambition  and  the 
loftiness  of  his  ideas.  He  aspired 
to  govern  men's  minds,  and  believed  that  he  could  do  this  by  his 
genius,  his  power  and  his  policy.  His  project  was  to  gain  over  some  of 
the  preachers  whom  the  sects  styled  ministers,  and  who  are  now  styled 
pastors,  to  make  them  in  the  first  place  acknowledge  that  the  Catholic  cult 
was  not  a  crime  before  God,  afterwards  to  lead  them  on  by  degrees,  to 
grant  them  some  unimportant  points,  while  appearing  to  the  Court  of 
Rome  to  have  granted  them  nothing.  He  reckoned  on  dazzling  one  party 
among  the  reformed  sects,  and  tempting  the  other,  by  gifts  and  favours  ; 
in  short,  on  appearing  to  have  re-united  them  to  the  Church,  leaving 
time  to  do  the  rest.    His  mind  was  fixed  on  the  fame  that  would  accrue 


CALVIN  OVEKTHKOWN   BY  TUt'E  RELIGION. 

(Fragment  of  an  Almanac.) 


372  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

to  him  from  having  done  or  projected  this  great  work,  and  passing  for 
having  executed  it.  The  famous  Capuchin  monk  Joseph,  on  the  one  hand 
("l'Éminence  Grise"  of  history  and  romance),  and  two  ministers  whom  he 
had  secured  on  the  other,  opened  this  negotiation.  But  it  appeared  that 
Cardinal  de  Richelieu  had  presumed  too  far,  and  that  it  is  more  difficult 
to  make  theologians  agree  than  to  stop  the  sea  with  a  dyke. 

Richelieu,  being  foiled,  resolved  to  crush  the  Calvinists,  but  he  was 
hindered  by  other  cares.  He  had  to  contend  with  the  nobles,  the  royal 
princes,  the  House  of  Austria,  and  frequently  Louis  XIII.  himself. 
He  died  prematurely  in  the  midst  of  all  this  turmoil,  leaving  his 
purposes  unfulfilled,  and  a  name  more  brilliant  than  it  was  beloved  and 
revered. 

After  the  taking  of  La  Rochelle  and  the  Edict  of  Grace,  the  civil 
wars  ceased,  and  only  disputes  remained..  Big  volumes,  which  are  no 
longer  read,  were  published  on  both  sides.  The  clergy,  and  especially  the 
Jesuits,  endeavoured  to  convert  the  Huguenots.  Huguenot  ministers 
endeavoured  to  bring  Catholics  to  their  way  of  thinking.  The  King's 
Council  was  occupied  in  issuing  decrees  concerning  a  village  cemetery  in 
dispute  between  the  two  religions,  a  place  of  worship  built  upon  ground 
that  had  formerly  belonged  to  the  Church,  schools,  manorial  rights,  burials, 
bells,  etc.,  and  the  reformers  rarely  gained  their  causes.  Of  all  the  past 
devastation  and  plunder,  nothing  but  these  minor  vexations  remained. 
The  Huguenots  had  no  longer  a  leader  after  the  Duc  de  Rohan  forsook 
them,  and  the  house  of  Bouillon  had  no  longer  Sedan.  They  even  took 
credit  to  themselves  for  remaining  'quiet  in  the  midst  of  the  factions  of 
the  Fronde  and  the  civil  wars  brought  about  by  princes,  parliaments  and 
bishops,  on  the  pretext  of  serving  the  King  against  Cardinal  Mazarin. 

Religion  was  hardly  in  question  during  the  lifetime  of  that  minister. 
He  made  no  difficulty  about  giving  the  post  of  Comptroller-General  of 
Finance  to  a  foreign  Calvinist  named  Hervart.  Many  members  of  the 
"  sects  "  got  places  under  the  farmers-general  of  the  revenue,  the  sub-farmers 
and  their  subordinates. 

Colbert,  who  revived  national  industry,  and  who  may  be  regarded  as 
the  founder  of  commerce,  employed  numbers  of  Huguenots  in  arts,  manu- 
factures, and  the  navy.  These  useful  occupations  subdued  the  epidemic 
rage  of  controversy  by  gradually  giving  them  employment,  while  the  halo 
which   encircled   Louis  XIV.   for  fifty   years,   his  power,   his   firm  and 


THE    DECLINE    OF    CONTROVERSY  373 

vigorous  rule,  quelled  every  idea  of  resistance  in  the  party  of  reform,  as 
well  as  in  all  the  other  orders  of  the  State.  The  magnificent  fêtes  of  a 
gallant  Court  cast  ridicule  upon  the  pedantry  of  the  Huguenots.  As 
a  taste  for  fine  music  grew,  the  psalms  of  Marot  and  Bèze  could  not  fail 
to  inspire  dislike.  They  had  charmed  the  courtiers  of  François  IL,  but 
were  fit  only  for  the  populace  under  Louis  XIV.    The  sound  philosophy 


HYPOCHONDRIACS. 
(Satirical  Dutch  print  against  the  sovereigns,  defenders  of  the  Catholic  Faith.) 


which  was  emerging  into  view  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
was  certain  in  course  of  time,  to  deter  sensible  people  from  the  disputes 
of  controversy. 

But,  until  reason  should  gradually  assert  itself,  this  very  spirit  of 
dispute  might  aid  in  maintaining  the  tranquillity  of  the  State  ;  for  the 
Jansenists,  who  appeared  on  the  scene  at  that  time  with  some  repute, 
began  to  receive  the  support  of  those  who  cared  for   the  subtleties  of 


374 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


controversy.  They  wrote  against  the  Jesuits  and  against  the  Huguenots  ; 
the  latter  replied  to  the  Jansenists  and  to  the  Jesuits,  the  Lutherans  of 
the  province  of  Alsace  wrote  against  them  all.  A  war  of  the  pen  among 
so  many  parties,  while  the  State  was  busy  with  great  affairs,  and  the 
Government  was  all-powerful,  must  necessarily  become  an  occupation  for 
idle  persons  only  after  a  time,  and  this  state  of  things  would  degenerate 
sooner  or  later  into  indifference. 

Louis  XIV.  was  irritated  against  the  sects  by  the  continual  remon- 
strances of  his  clergy,  by  the  insinuations  of  the  Jesuits,  by  the  Court 
of  Rome,  and  finally  by  Le  Tellier  the  Chancellor,  and  Louvois,  both 
enemies  of  Colbert,  who  wanted  to  brand  the  sects  as  rebels  because 
Colbert  regarded  them  as  useful  subjects.  Louis  XIV.,  who  knew  nothing 
about  the  grounds  of  their  doctrines,  looked  upon  them,  not  without 
some  reason,  as  former  insurgents  who  had  been  put  down  with  difficulty. 
He  applied  himself  at  first  to  gradually  undermining  the  edifice  of  their 
religion  on  all  sides.  The  slightest  pretext  was  used  for  depriving  them 
of  a  place  of  worship  ;  they  were  forbidden  to  marry  Catholic  girls  :  the 
policy  of  this  prohibition  was  doubtful,  for  the  Court  was  well  aware 
that  it  ignored  a  powerful  influence.  The  intendants  and  the  bishops 
endeavoured  to  take  the  children  of  the  Huguenots  from  them  by  the 
most  plausible  means.  Colbert  was  ordered  (in  1681)  no  longer  to  give 
any  man  of  that  religion  a  post  in  the  State  farmers'  offices.  They  were 
excluded  as  far  as  possible  from  the  corporations  of  arts  and  crafts.  The 
King,  however,  while  he  kept  them  under  the  yoke,  forbore  to  make  it 
too  heavy.  All  violence  against  them  was  forbidden  by  decree.  Severity 
was  judiciously  tempered  by  persuasion. 

A  method  of  conversion  frequently  found  efficacious  was  employed  : 
this  was  money  ;  but  insufficient  use  was  made  of  that  resource.  Pellisson 
was  entrusted  with  this  secret  service  :  he  was  the  same  Pellisson  who 
had  been  a  Calvinist  for  so  long,  was  so  well  known  by  his  works,  for  his 
fluent  eloquence,  and  for  his  attachment  to  Fouquet,  whose  head  clerk, 
favourite,  and  victim  he  had  been.  He  was  fortunate  enough  to  change 
his  religion  at  a  time  when  the  change  might  lead  him  to  dignity  and 
wealth.  He  took  orders,  and  obtained  preferment,  also  the  post  of  Master 
of  Requests.  The  King  entrusted  him  with  the  revenue  of  the  abbeys 
of  Saint-Germain-des-Prés  and  Cluny,  about  the  year  1677,  together  with 
the  revenues  of  the  third  of  the  stewardships,  for  distribution  to  those 


THE    BEGINNING    OF  FLIGHT 


375 


who  were  willing  to  be  converted.  Cardinal  Le  Camus,  Bishop  of  Grenoble, 
had  already  employed  that  method.  Pellisson,  being  charged  with  this 
department,  sent  the  money  into  the  provinces,  where  great  efforts  were 
made  to  obtain  many  conversions  for  little  outlay.  Small  sums,  distributed 
to  poor  people,  swelled  the  list  which  Pellisson  presented  to  the  King 
every  three  months,  while  persuading  him  that  everything  in  the  world 
yielded  to  his  power  or  to  his  favour. 

The  Council,  encouraged  by  these  small  successes,  which  time  might 
have  rendered  more  important,  ventured  to  declare  in  L681  that  children 
might  be  admitted  as  converts  at  the  age  of  seven,  and  in  support  of 
this  declaration  many  children  in  the  provinces  were  taken  away  to  make 
them  abjure,  and  soldiers  were  billeted  on  the  parents. 

The  injudicious  haste  of 
Chancellor  Le  Tellier  and  Lou  vois, 
caused  several  families  from 
Poitou  and  La  Saintonge  to 
desert  the  country  in  1681. 
Foreigners  hastened  to  profit  by 
the  expatriation  movement. 

The  Kings  of  England  and 
Denmark,  and  especially  the 
town  of  Amsterdam,  invited  the 
Calvinists  of  France  to  take 
refuge  in  their  states,  and 
assured  them  of  support.  Amsterdam  even  undertook  to  build  a  thousand 
houses  for  the  refugees. 

The  Council  perceived  the  dangerous  consequences  of  the  too  hasty 
use  of  authority,  and  tried  to  remedy  them  by  that  very  same  authority. 
Artisans  were  wanting  in  a  country  where  trade  was  flourishing,  and 
sailors  at  a  time  when  a  powerful  navy  was  in  formation.  The  penalty 
of  the  galleys  was  decreed  against  artisans  or  seamen  who  should  attempt 
to  escape. 

It  was  observed  that  several  Calvinist  families  were  selling  their  lands. 
A  decree  was  immediately  issued  by  which  all  these  lands  were  to  be  con- 
fiscated should  the  vendors  leave  the  kingdom  within  one  year.  Ministers 
of  the  sects  were  treated  with  increased  severity,  and  their  places  of 
worship  were  interdicted  on  the  slightest  offence.     All   moneys  left  by 


BUREAU  DE  CHARITÉ  WHERE  AID  WAS  DISTRIBUTED 
TO    CONVERTED  PROTESTANTS. 
(Fragment  of  Almanac  of  1686.) 


376 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


will  to  the  consistories  were  applied  to  the  use  of  the  hospitals  of  the 
kingdom. 

Calvinist  schoolmasters  were  forbidden  to  receive  boarders.  Ministers 
were  taxed  ;  protestant  mayors  were  deprived  of  nobility.  Officers  of 
the  King's  household,  and  secretaries  of  the  King,  who  were  protestants, 
were  ordered  to  resign  their  places.  Men  of  "  the  religion  "  were  no 
longer  admitted  as  notaries,  advocates,  or  even  procurators. 

The  clergy  were  enjoined  to  make  proselytes,  but  ministers  of  the 
sects  were  forbidden  to  do  so  under  pain  of  perpetual  banishment.  These 
decrees  were  publicly  solicited  by  the  clergy  of  France  ;  but  they  were, 
after  all,  only  the  children  of  the  house  refusing  to  share  with  strangers 
who  had  come  in  by  force. 

Pellisson  continued  to  purchase  converts  ;  but  Madame  Hervart, 
widow  of  the  Comptroller-General  of  Finance,  inspired  by  that  religious 
zeal  for  which  women  have  always  been  remarkable,  gave  as  much  money 
to  hinder  conversions  as  Pellisson  gave  for  the  making  of  converts. 

(1682.)  At  last  the  Huguenots  in  certain  places  ventured  to  disobey. 
They  assembled  in  Vivarais  and  in  Dauphiné,  near  the  places  where  their 
meeting-houses  had  been  demolished.  They  were  attacked  and  they 
resisted  ;  but  this  was  only  a  small  spark  of  the  flame  of  the  former  civil 
wars.  Two  or  three  hundred  unhappy  wretches,  without  a  leader,  and  even 
without  plans,  were  dispersed  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Punishment 
followed  their  defeat.  The  Intendant  of  Dauphiné  had  the  grandson  of 
Pastor  Charnier,  who  had  drawn  up  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  broken  on  the 
wheel.  He  ranks  among  the  most  famous  martyrs  of  the  sect,  and  his 
name  has  long  been  held  in  veneration  among  protestants. 

(1683.)  The  Intendant  of  Languedoc  had  Chomel  the  preacher  broken 
alive  upon  the  wheel.  Three  others  were  condemned  to  the  same 
punishment,  ten  to  hanging.  The  latter  had,  however,  taken  to  timely 
flight,  and  were  only  executed  in  effigy. 

All  this  inspired  terror,  but  at  the  same  time  increased  the  stubborn- 
ness of  the  Calvinists,  for  men  cling  to  their  religion  in  proportion  as 
they  have  to  suffer  for  it. 

The  King  was  persuaded  that,  having  sent  missionaries  into  all  the  pro- 
vinces, he  ought  to  follow  them  up  with  dragoons.  This  measure  was  the 
result  of  the  conviction  which  reigned  at  Court,  that  everything  must  give 
way  before  the  name  of  Louis  XIV.    It  was  forgotten  that  the  Huguenots 


PERSECUTION    AND    BAD    POLICY  ;577 

were  no  longer  the  men  of  Jarnac,  Montcontour,  and  Coutras  ;  that  the 
passions  of  the  civil  wars  were  extinct  ;  that  the  acute  malady  had  sunk 
into  decline  ;  that  everything  human  lasts  for  its  own  day  only  ;  that 
although  the  fathers  had  been  rebels  under  Louis  XIII.,  the  children  were 
submissive  subjects  of  Louis  XIV.  In  England,  Holland  and  Germany 
various  sects  who  had  slaughtered  each  other  in  the  past  century 
were  now  living  peacefully  in  the  same  towns.  These  facts  implied 
that  an  absolute  sovereign  might  be  served  equally  well  by  Catholics  and 
by  Huguenots;  the  Lutherans  of  Alsace  were  living  proofs  of  the  truth  of 
this.    It  appeared,  in  short,  that  Queen  Christina  had  been  right  when  she 


SATIRICAL  COLOUKKD  PRINTS  ON  SURE  AND  PROPER  M K ANS  OK  BRINGING  BACK  PROTESTANTS  TO  THK 
TRUE  FAITH:    DRAGONNADES,    THK  (iAI.I.KYS,    PRISONS,    THK  WHEEL  AND  THK  STAKE. 

(Cabinet  "f  Engravings.) 


said  in  one  of  her  letters  concerning  these  proceedings  and  the  emigration  : 
"  I  look  upon  France  as  a  sick  man  whose  arms  and  legs  are  being  cut 
off,  by  way  of  treatment  of  a  disease  which  gentleness  and  patience 
would  have  completely  cured.'' 

Louis  XIV.,  on  taking  possession  of  Strasburg  in  1681,  had  protected 
Lutheranism  there,  and  might  have  tolerated  Calvinism  in  his  States:  time 
would  probably  have  abolished  it,  as  time  is  now  diminishing  the  number 
of  Lutherans  in  Alsace.  Was  it  not  evident  that  by  forcing  the  consciences 
of  a  great  number  of  his  subjects,  he  would  lose  a  much  greater  number, 
in  spite  of  edicts  and  soldiers,  who  would  fly  from  treatment  which  they 
regarded  as  horrible  persecution  ?  And  why  cause  over  a  million  of  men 
to  hate  the  dear  and  precious  name  of  him  whom  Calviuists  and  Catholics, 
Frenchmen  and  foreigners  alike  called  Louis  the  Great?  Mere  policy 
ought  to  have  made  him  retain  the  Calviuists  in  France  for  the  purpose 

3  c 


378 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


of  placing  them  in  opposition  to  the  claims  of  the  Court  of  Rome.  At 
this  time  the  King  had  broken  openly  with  Innocent  XL,  the  enemy  of 
France.  But  Louis  XIV.,  combining  the  interests  of  his  religion  with 
those  of  his  pride  and  his  grandeur,  was  resolved  to  humiliate  the  Pope 
with  one  hand  and  to  crush  Calvinism  with  the  other. 

These  two  enterprises  afforded  him  an  opportunity  for  getting  more 
of  that  glory  which  was  his  eternal  aim.    The  bishops,  several  intendants, 


DUTCH  SATIRICAL  COLOURED  PRINT  ON  SURE  AND  HONEST  MEANS  FOR  BRINGING  PROTESTANTS  BACK  TO 
THE  TRUE  FAITH:  DRAGONNADES,   GALLEYS,   PRISONS,   WHEELS  AND  STAKES. 

and  the  whole  of  his  Council  persuaded  him  that  by  merely  showing 
themselves  his  troops  would  finish  the  work  that  had  been  begun  by  the 
royal  bounties  and  missions.  The  King  meant  only  to  use  authority,  but 
those  to  whom  that  authority  was  committed  used  it  with  extreme  severity. 

Towards  the  end  of  1684,  and  in  the  beginning  of  1685,  when 
Louis  XIV.,  "a  strong  man  armed,"  feared  none  of  his  neighbours,  troops 
were  sent  into  all  the  towns  where  the  greater  number  of  protestants 
were,  and  to  all  the  châteaux,  and  as  the  greatest  excesses  were  committed 


LA  DRAGONNADE 


379 


by  the  dragoons,  ill-disciplined  enough  in  those  times,  the  ruthless  raid  was 
called  "la  dragonnade." 

The  frontiers  were  guarded  as  carefully  as  possible  to  prevent  the 
escape  of  those  who  were  to  be  forcibly  reconciled  with  the  Church,  and 
what  was  really  a  sort  of  hunt  within  a  vast  enclosure  took  place. 


THE  PAIR  CONSTANCE  "  DRAGOONED  "  BY  ARLEQUIN  DÉODAT  (LOUIS  XIV.). 
(Dutch  allegory  and  satire  upon  the  persecution  of  the  protestants.) 


A  bishop,  an  intendant,  a  sub-delegate,  a  curé,  or  some  other  authorised 
person  marched  at  the  head  of  the  soldiers.  The  principal  Calvinist 
families,  especially  those  who  were  supposed  to  be  most  persuadable, 
were  collected  together;  they  renounced  their  religion  in  the  name  of 
the  others,  and  the  obstinate  ones  were  delivered  over  to  the  soldiers, 
who  had  every  licence,  except  leave  to  kill.  Several  persons,  however, 
were  so  cruelly  maltreated  that  they  died.  The  children  of  refugees  in 
foreign  lands  still  speak  with  horror  of  the  persecution  of  their  fathers,  and 


380 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


compare  it  with  the  worst  of  the  persecutions  inflicted  upon  the  Church 
in  the  first  era  of  Christianity. 

And  it  was  from  a  voluptuous  Court,  where  gentle  ways,  grace, 
refinement,  and  all  the  charms  of  society  reigned,  that  commands  so  hard 
and  pitiless  were  issued.  The  Marquis  de  Lou  vois  exhibited  the 
implacability  of  his  character  in  this  matter — the  same  mind  that 
would  fain  have  buried  Holland  beneath  the  waters,  and  actually  did 
reduce  the  Palatinate  to  ashes.  Letters  written  by  him  in  1685  still 
exist,  which  contain  the  following  :  "  His  Majesty  commands  that  the 
utmost  rigour  be  used  with  all  such  as  will  not  reconcile  themselves  to 
his  religion,  and  those  who  shall  be  so  foolish  as  to  desire  to  remain  (of 

that  mind)  are  to  be  pushed 
to  the  uttermost  extremity." 

Paris  was  not  exposed  to  these 
horrors  :  the  victims'  cries  would 
have  come  too  near  the  throne. 

(1685.)  While  protestant 
churches  were  being  everywhere 
demolished,  and  abjurations  were 
exacted  by  force  of  arms,  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  was  revoked  in 
the  month  of  October,  1685, 
and  the  final  ruin  of  the  edihVo, 
which  was  mined  in  every  part, 
was  achieved. 

The  Court  of  the  Edict  had  already  been  suppressed.  Calvinist 
counsellors  of  the  parliament  were  commanded  to  resign  their  posts.  A 
number  of  decrees  of  the  Council  for  the  extirpation  of  the  proscribed 
religion  were  issued  in  succession.  The  most  fatal  of  these  was  an  order 
that  the  children  of  members  of  the  sect  were  to  be  taken  away,  and 
placed  in  the  hands  of  their  nearest  Catholic  relatives — but  Nature  cried 
out  so  loudly  against  this  order  that  it  was  not  executed. 

The  famous  edict  which  revoked  that  of  Nantes  was,  however,  destined 
to  bring  about  an  event  in  direct  contradiction  to  its  proposed  aim,  the 
reunion  of  Calvinists  to  the  Church.  Gourville,  the  financier  and 
diplomatist  whom  Louvois  consulted,  had  suggested  that  all  the  ministers 
should   be   imprisoned,    and   only    those   released   who,   being  privately 


A    RESULT    OF    THE    N  E  W  EDICT 


381 


promised  pensions,  should  abjure  in  public,  and  would  thus  serve  the  cause 
of  reunion  better  than  the  missionaries  and  the  soldiers.  Instead  of  adopting 
this  politic  measure,  the  Edict  ordered  all  the  ministers  who  refused  to 
be  converted  to  leave  the  kingdom  within  fifteen  days.  Only  wilful 
blindness  could  fail  to  perceive  that  to  drive  away  the  pastors  was  to 
ensure  their  being  followed  by  a  great  part  of  the  Hock.  Only  the  pride 
of  power,  and  ignorance  of  human  nature  could  have  prevented  its 
being  evident  that  wounded  hearts,  and  imaginations  excited  by  the  idea  of 


LE  ROY  T)E  FRANCE 


^Hût  fi  le  il 'fjrs.i  jsi •:  s  e.  fairu  /'AcrcUfuc  ■ 

Il ' ïAjjsj.  tcut  J'imcjHf  &s ireu/lfardt  /s  iWritt-. 

3.'/7  pas  far  un  ^ele  Jirist  . 
.'Hais  a.jvt  Je  çarAgf  ma- fin*  fsli'ifue  . 


Fji  îjjà  Ja  ^.tj  i/ay  it/ôùttjà'eeitjait fiy. 

-Ar  MM  &'*  Ssjrrsn ,  i£JtuS  /c/rre  J';c1  JLffv: 

c't fil'jf  rattti.c'ett p*rtiu/ètUe  titiriaue  ■ 


CARICATURES  IN  BLAC 


CHB  KINQ  AND  MADAME  DE  MAINTENON,   PERSECUTORS  OF  PROTESTANTISM. 

(Published  by  Peters.) 


martyrdom,  especially  in  the  southern  lauds  of  France,  would  not  hesitate 
at  anything,  so  that  they  might  get  away  to  proclaim  their  fidelity 
and  to  glory  in  their  exile  among  the  many  nations,  all  envious  of 
Louis  XIV.,  who  were  holding  out  their  arms  to  the  fugitive  multitude. 

The  old  Chancellor  Le  Tellier  cried  in  the  joy  of  his  heart  on  signing 
the  Edict:  "Nunc  dimittis  servum  fcuum,  Domine,  .  .  .  quia  viderunt  oculi 
mei  salutare  tuum."  He  did  not  know  that  he  was  setting  his  hand  to 
the  sanction  of  one  of  the  fatal  errors  and  great  misfortunes  of  France. 

Louvois  also  was  mistaken  in  supposing  that  an  order  from  his 
hand  would  suffice  to  guard  all  the  frontiers  and  coasts  against  those  who 


382 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


regarded  flight  as  their  duty.  A  few  bribed  guards  were  sufficient  to 
favour  the  flight  of  the  refugees.  Within  three  years,  more  than  fifty 
thousand  families  had  left  the  kingdom,  to  be  followed  in  time  by  many 
more.  They  went,  bearing  with  them  to  other  countries  arts,  manufactures 
and  wealth.  The  aspect  of  almost  all  the  North  of  Germany,  then  an 
agricultural  country  destitute  of  industries,  was  transfigured  by  the  trans- 
planted multitude.  They  peopled  whole  towns.  Stuffs,  gold  and  silver 
lace,  hats,  and  stockings,  that  had  hitherto  been  purchased  from  France, 

were  manufactured  by  the  refugees. 
One  entire  district  of  London 
(Spitalfields)  was  peopled  by  French 
silk  weavers  ;  others  imported  the  art 
of  perfecting  glass,  which  was  thus 
lost  to  France.  French  gold,  circu- 
lated by  those  refugees,  is  still  fre- 
quently to  be  met  with  in  Germany. 
Thus  were  lost  to  France  nearly  five 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  an 
immense  amount  of  money,  and,  above 
all,  the  arts  by  which  her  enemies  are 
enriched.  Holland  gained  excellent 
officers  and  soldiers  ;  the  Prince  of 
Orange  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy  had 
regiments  composed  entirely  of  re- 
fugees. Those  same  sovereigns  of 
Piedmont  and  Savoy,  who  had  inflicted 
such  cruelties  on  the  protestants  of 
their  own  countries,  paid  French  protestants  to  be  their  soldiers  ;  and  it 
was  certainly  not  religious  zeal  that  induced  the  Prince  of  Orange  to  enrol 
them.  Some  went  so  far  as  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ;  the  nephew  of  the 
celebrated  Duquesne,  lieutenant-general  of  the  navy,  founded  a  little 
colony  at  that  extremity  of  the  earth.  It  has  not  prospered  ;  those  who 
embarked  in  it  perished  for  the  most  part,  but  remains  of  it  still  exist 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Hottentots.  The  French  have  been  dispersed  more 
widely  than  the  Jews. 

In  vain  were  prisons  and  galleys  filled  with  those  who  were  arrested 
in  their  flight.    What  was  to  be  done  with  so  many  unfortunate  persons 


LARCH  EVE QV  E  DE  KH EIMST  [ 


I'ai fins  afc/a  i-e/ui  a/iput . 


CARICATURE  IN  BLACK  OF  THF,  ARCHBISHOP  OF 
RHEIMS,  PERSECUTOR  OF  PROTESTANTISM. 

(Published  by  Peters.) 


T 1 1  E    HUGUENOT  EXODUS 


383 


whose  faith  was  only  strengthened  by  suffering  ?  How  were  lawyers  and 
infirm  old  men  to  be  kept  at  the  galleys  ?  Some  hundreds  were  made  to 
embark  for  America.  At  last  it  occurred  to  the  Council  that,  if  leaving 
the  country  were  no  longer  forbidden,  the  exodus,  having  lost  the  charm 
of  disobedience,  would  not  be  so  serious.  This  proved  to  be  a  fresh  dis- 
appointment ;  the  ports  and  frontiers  were  opened,  but  only  to  be  closed  a 
second  time,  and  again  in 


vain. 

In  1G85,  Calvinists 
were  forbidden  to  have 
Catholic  servants,  lest  the 
masters  should  pervert  their 
domestics  :  a  year  later  a 
second  edict  commanded 
them  to  discharge  ITugue- 
not  servants,  in  order  that 
the  latter  might  be  arrest  e<  I 
as  vagabonds. 

All  the  temples  being 
destroyed  and  the  ministers 
banished,  the  next  question 
was  how  to  retain  converts 
who  had  changed  their 
faith  from  persuasion  or 
fear  in  the  Roman  com- 
munion. More  than  four 
hundred  thousand  of  these 
converts  remained  in  the 
kingdom.  They  were  forced 

to  go  to  Mass  and  to  receive  Holy  Communion.  Sonic  who  rejected  the 
Host  after  having  received  it,  were  condemned  to  be  burned  alive.  The 
bodies  of  those  who  would  not  receive  the  last  sacraments  were  dragged 
on  hurdles  and  cast  into  the  common  sewer. 

All  persecution  makes  proselytes  when  it  strikes  during  the  fervour 
of  enthusiasm.  The  Calvinists  assembled  everywhere  to  sing  their  psalms, 
despite  the  death  penalty  attendant  on  such  meetings.  Ministers  were 
forbidden  under  pain  of  death  to  re-enter  the   kingdom,  and  a  reward  of 


PIERRE  JUKlliU,  PASTOR  AND  PR0FES80R  OF  THKOLOGY. 
(t'ruui  the  portrait  by  (julc,  cugraved  by  JIarot.) 


384 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


five  hundred  livres  was  ottered  to  any  who  would  denounce  them.  Never- 
theless, several  ministers  came  back  and  were  hanged  or  broken  on  the  wheel. 

The  "  sect  "  still  lived,  although  it  seemed  to  be  crushed.  During 
the  war  of  1689  a  vain  hope  was  entertained  that  King  William  III. 
of  England,  having  dethroned  his  Catholic  father-in-law,  would  uphold 
Calvinism  in  France.  But  during  the  war  of  1701  rebellion  and  fanaticism 
broke  out  in  Languedoc  and  the  neighbouring  regions.  That  rebellion 
was  excited  by  prophecies.     In  all  ages  predictions  have  been  used  as  a 


"SIC  ITUR  AD  ASTHA," — "  CAPl'A  OMNIA  TEGIT.  " 

(After  a  satirical  Dutch  print.) 


means  to  entice  simple  and  to  inflame  fanatical  minds.  Let  fortune 
bring  about  one  single  event  out  of  a  hundred  that  knavery  has  predicted, 
and  the  others  will  be  forgotten,  while  that  one  will  be  regarded  as  a 
pledge  of  divine  favour  and  the  proof  of  a  prodigy.  If  none  of  the 
hundred  predictions  be  fulfilled,  they  are  invested  with  a  different  meaning, 
which  is  adopted  by  enthusiasts  and  believed  by  fools. 

The  Calvinist  minister,  Jurieu,  was  one  of  the  leading  prophets. 
He  began  by  rating  himself  higher  than  a  number  of  famous  persons 
whom  he  regarded  as  inspired  by  God,  and  he  then  went  on  to  place 


JURIUS    AND    HIS  SCHOOL 


.385 


himself  almost  on  a  level  with  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse  and  with 
Saint  Paul.  His  partisans,  or  rather  his  enemies,  had  a  medal  struck 
in  Holland  with  the  inscription,  "Jurius  Propheta."  For  eight  whole 
years  he  prophesied  the  deliverance  of  the  people  of  God.  His  schools 
of  prophecy  wTere  established  in  the  mountains  of  Dauphiné,  Le  Vivarais, 
and  the  Cévennes,  in  places  inhabited  by  ignorant  and  excitable  people, 


THE  REVOCATION  01-'  THE  EDICT  OK  NANTES!  PRO  CLAMED  BY  LOUIS  XIV.   IIKFOKE  THE  CLEUOY  OP  FRANCE. 

(Dutch  picture.) 

who  were  inflamed  by  the  heat  of  the  climate,  and  still  more  by  their 
preachers. 

The  first  school  of  prophecy  was  established  in  some  glass  works  on 
a  hill  in  Dauphiné  called  Peirà.  An  old  Huguenot,  named  De  Serre, 
announced  the  ruin  of  Babylon,  and  the  restoration  of  .Jerusalem.  He 
would  show  the  children  these  words  in  the  Scriptures:  "Where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  My  name,  there  am  1  in  the  midst  '  ;  and 
tell  them  that  with  a  grain  of  faith  mountains  may  be  removed.  Then  he 
received  the  Spirit:  it  was  conferred  on  him  by  breathing  into  his  mouth, 

3  T) 


386 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


because  it  is  said  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  that  Jesus  breathed  on 
His  disciples  before  His  death.  De  Serre  worked  in  convulsions,  his  voice 
was  changed,  he  remained  motionless,  wild,  his  hair  standing  on  end, 
according  to  the  ancient  custom  of  all  nations  and  to  those  indications 
of  madness  that  have  been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation. 
(  Ihildren  too  received  the  gift  of  prophecy  ;  and  if  they  did  not  remove 
mountains,  it  was  because  they  had  sufficient  faith  to  receive  the  Spirit, 
but  not  enough  to  work  miracles.  They  prayed  with  redoubled  fervour 
to  obtain  this  last,  greatest  gift. 

While    the  Cévennes  were    thus   burning  with    zeal   and  devotion, 

ministers  who  were  called 
"apostles"  returned  secretly  to 
preach  to  the  people. 

Claude  Brousson,  a  man  of 
high  family  at  Nîmes,  eloquent, 
full  of  zeal,  much  esteemed  in 
foreign  countries,  who  had  re- 
turned to  his  native  land  in 
1698,  was  convicted  not  only 
of  persevering  in  his  ministry 
despite  the  edicts,  but  of  having 
carried  on  a  correspondence  with 
enemies  of  the  State  ten  years 
previously.  In  fact,  he  had 
formed  a  plan  for  introducing 
English  and  Savoyard  troops  into  Languedoc.  Particulars  of  this  project 
in  his  own  handwriting,  addressed  to  the  Duc  de  Schomberg,  had  been 
intercepted,  and  the  document  was  in  the  hands  of  the  intendant  of  the 
province.  Brousson,  wandering  from  town  to  town,  was  seized  at  Oléron 
and  transferred  to  the  citadel  of  Montpellier.  Being  interrogated  by  the 
intendant  and  the  judges,  he  replied  that  he  was  the  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ, 
that  he  had  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he  must  not  betray  the  faith 
confided  to  him,  that  his  duty  was  to  distribute  the  bread  of  the  Word 
among  his  brethren.  He  was  asked  whether  the  apostles  had  set  their 
hand  to  revolutionary  plans,  was  shown  his  fatal  script,  and  unanimously 
condemned  by  the  judges  to  be  broken  alive  on  the  wheel  (1698).  He 
died  as  the  first  martyr  died.     The  whole  sect,  far  from  looking  upon 


THE  FLIGHT  OP  JAMES  II. 

(From  a  print  "f  the  time,  done  in  Holland.) 
(Cabinet  of  Engravings.) 


THE    ABBÉ     DE     LA     BOU  R  LIE 


389 


him  as  an  offender  against  the  State,  regarded  him  as  a  saint  who  had 
sealed  his  faith  with  his  blood,  and  they  published  "  Le  Martyre  de  Brousson." 

Prophets  became  more  numerous,  and  the  spirit  of  fanaticism  orew 
in  strength.  It  was  an  unfortunate  circumstance  that  in  1703  a  certain 
Abbé  du  Chaila,  inspector  of  missions,  obtained  an  order  from  the 
Court  to  place  two  daughters  of  a  recently  converted  gentleman  in  a 
convent.  .  Instead  of  taking  them  to  the  convent,  he  took  them  first  to 
his  own  chateau.  The  Calvinists  assembled,  burst  in  the  doors,  and 
rescued  the  two  girls  with  other  prisoners.  The  rioters,  seized  the  Abbé 
du  Chaila,  and  offered  him  his  life  if  he  would  accept  their  religion.  He 
refused.  One  of  the 
prophets  exclaimed  : 
"Die  then,  the  Spirit 
condemns  thee,  thy  sin 
is  against  thee  !  "  The 
Abbé  was  shot  dead. 
They  then  seized  the 
collectors  of  the  capita- 
tion tax,  and  hung  them 
with  their  papers  round 
their  necks  ;  after  this 
they  fell  on  the  priests 
and  massacred  them. 
The  rioters  were  pur- 
sued, but  they  found  shelter  in  the  woods  and  among  the  rocks.  Their 
number  increased,  their  prophets  and  prophetesses  announced  in  God's 
name  the  re-establishment  of  Jerusalem  and  the  fall  of  Babylon.  A 
certain  Abbé  de  la  Bourlie  appeared  suddenly  among  them  in  their  wild 
retreat,  bringing  them  money  and  arms. 

He  was  the  son  of  the  Marquis  de  Guiscard,  one  of  the  wisest  men  in 
the  kingdom,  and  " under-governor "  to  the  King.  The  son  was  unworthy 
of  such  a  father,  lie  had  tied  to  Holland,  having  committed  a  crime,  anil 
endeavoured  to  incite  the  Cévennes  to  revolt.  Some  time  afterwards  he 
was  found  in  London  where  he  was  arrested  (in  1711)  for  having  betrayed 
the  English  ministry  after  he  had  bet  raved  his  own  country.  When  before 
the  council,  he  snatched  up  a  long  penknife  and  struck  the  Chancellor, 
Robert  Harley,  afterwards  Earl  of  Oxford.    He  was  taken  to  prison  in 


Que  Lv  (P/iaitatiquc.i  ont,  faitsj'rapcr  dans  let  Jlvn\nei. dent  I  Original  a  este' 


Chruùcuios  lirtieicu  Saciiiclum 

limn 


MEDAL  STRUCK  BY  THK  PROTESTANTS  OF  THE  CÉVF.XXES. 


390  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

fetters,  and  forestalled  his  inevitable  sentence  by  committing  suicide. 
This  was  the  man  who,  in  the  name  of  England,  the  Dutch,  and  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  had  appeared  among  the  fanatics,  and  promised  them 
substantial  aid. 

(1703.)  A  considerable  portion  of  the  country  was  secretly  on  the  side  of 
the  "  sect."  Their  war-cry  was  :  "No  taxation  and  liberty  of  conscience" — 
a  cry  which  attracts  the  populace  everywhere.    The  resolution  of  Louis  XIV. 

to  extirpate  Calvinism  was  justi- 
fied in  the  eyes  of  the  people 
generally  by  this  turbulence, 
but  if  the  Edict  of  Nantes  had 
not  been  revoked,  there  would 
have  been  no  turbulence. 

The  King  sent  the  Maréchal 
de  Montrevel  with  some  troops 
to  the  Ce venn  es.  He  made  war 
upon  the  fanatics  with  a  bar- 
barity surpassing  their  own. 
Prisoners  were  broken  on  the 
wheel  or  burned  ;  and  the  soldiers 
who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
insurgents  also  perished  by  cruel 
deaths.  The  King,  being  at  war 
everywhere,  could  only  send  a 
few  troops  to  fight  them.  It 
was  difficult  to  surprise  them 
in  the  then  almost  inaccessible 
rocks,  in  the  caverns,  in  the 
woods,  whither  they  betook 
themselves  by  uncleared  ways,  and  from  whence  they  came  down  suddenly 
like  wild  beasts.  They  even  defeated  some  of  the  King's  troops  in  a 
pitched  battle.  Three  Marshals  of  France  were  employed  against  them 
successively. 

In  1704  the  Maréchal  de  Villars  succeeded  the  Maréchal  de  Montrevel. 
As  it  was  even  more  difficult  for  him  to  find  the  rebels  than  to  beat 
them,  Villars  proposed  an  amnesty  to  them  after  he  had  taught  them  to 
fear   him.     Some  of  their  number  consented  to  this,  being  undeceived 


LE  MARÉCHAL  DE  VILLARS. 
(From  a  priut  by  Rochefoit.) 


J  KAN  CAVALIEE 


.391 


ii 


7L  tA  rStui*3*0*7?Jf  X  y*t 


regarding  the  promises  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  who,  after  the  example  of 
other  sovereigns,  persecuted  them  in  his  own  dominions,  and  would  have 
patronised  them  in  an  enemy's  country. 

Jean  Cavalier  was  the  only  one  of  their  leaders  seriously  worthy  of 
mention.  I  saw  him  after- 
wards in  Holland  and  in 
England.  He  was  a  small 
fair  man,  of  mild  and  pleasant 
countenance.  By  his  party 
he  was  called  David.  Origin- 
ally  a  journeyman  baker,  at 
the  age  of  three-and-twenty 
he  had  become  the  Leader 
of  a  large  following,  by  the 
force  of  his  own  courage, 
and  the  aid  of  a  prophetess 
who  bade  the  fanatics  ac- 
knowledge his  authority  bv 
an  express  command  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  He  was  at  the 
head  of  eight  hundred  men, 
whom  he  was  forming  into 
regiments,  when  the  amnesty 
was  proposed  to  him.  He 
demanded  hostages:  they 
were  given  him.  Followed 
by  one  of  the  chiefs  lie 
went  to  Nîmes  where  he 
treated  with  the  Maréchal 
de  Villars. 

(1704.)  Cavalier  promised  to  form  four  regiments  of  the  insurgents, 
who  should  serve  the  King  under  four  colonels,  himself  to  be  the  first,  and 
to  name  the  other  three.  These  regiments  were  to  have  the  free  exercise 
of  their  religion,  as  the  foreign  troops  in  the  pay  of  France  had  :  but  that 
exercise  was  not  to  be  permitted  elsewhere.  These  conditions  had  been 
accepted  when  emissaries  from  Holland  came  to  prevent  the  effect  of  them 
with  money  and  promises.      The  emissaries  detached  the  principal  fanatics 


DUTCH  CARICATURE  I  PON  THK  EVIL  INFLUENCE  OK 
MADAM E   DE   MAINT1NON  DI  KING  THE  LAST 
TEARS  OF  THE  BEIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 


* 


392  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

from  Cavalier  ;  but,  having  given  his  word  to  the  Maréchal  de  Villars,  he 
determined  to  keep  it.  He  accepted  the  colonel's  commission,  and  began 
to  form  his  regiment  with  a  hundred  and  thirty  men  who  were  attached 
to  him. 

I  have  heard  from  Villars  himself,  that  he  asked  young  Cavalier 
how  he  could  have  had  so  much  authority  over  such  fierce,  undisciplined 
men  at  his  age.  He  replied  that,  when  any  of  them  disobeyed  him, 
his  prophetess,  whom  they  called  La  Grande  Marie,  became  straightway 
inspired,  and  condemned  the  defaulters  to  death  ;  they  were  then  shot 
without  argument.  I  afterwards  put  the  same  question  to  Cavalier 
myself,  and  I  received  the  same  answer. 

This  singular  negotiation  took  place  after  the  battle  of  Hochstedt. 
Louis  XIV.,  who  had  proscribed  Calvinism  so  severely,  now  made  peace, 
under  the  name  of  amnesty,  with  a  journeyman  baker,  and  the  Maréchal 
de  Villars  presented  him  with  a  colonel's  commission,  and  a  pension  of 
twelve  hundred  livres. 

The  new  colonel  went  to  Versailles  ;  there  he  received  the  orders  of 
the  Minister  of  War. 

The  King  saw  him  and  shrugged  his  shoulders.  Cavalier,  being  kept 
under  observation  by  the  Ministry,  took  alarm,  and  retired  to  Piedmont. 
From  thence  he  passed  into  Holland  and  England.  He  fought  in  the 
Spanish  war,  and  commanded  a  regiment  of  the  French  refugees  in 
the  battle  of  Almanza. 

The  fate  of  this  regiment  goes  to  prove  the  ferocity  of  civil  wrarfare. 
Cavalier's  troop  found  themselves  face  to  face  with  a  French  regiment.  No 
sooner  did  they  recognise  the  fact,  than  they  rushed  upon  each  other  with 
the  bayonet  without  firing.  It  has  been  already  remarked  that  the 
bayonet  does  little  in  battle.  The  bearing  of  the  first  line,  composed 
of  three  ranks,  after  they  have  fired,  decides  the  fate  of  the  day, 
but  in  this  case  rage  effected  that  which  valour  hardly  ever  accomplishes. 
Not  three  hundred  men  remained  out  of  the  two  regiments.  The  Maréchal 
de  Berwick  often  related  this  incident  with  astonishment. 

Cavalier  died  a  general  officer,  and  Governor  of  the  Island  of  Jersey, 
with  a  great  reputation  for  valour,  having  retained  nothing  of  his  former 
ferocity,  save  its  courage,  and  having  substituted  prudence  for  a  fanaticism 
that  was  no  longer  sustained  by  example. 

The  Maréchal  de  Villars  was  recalled  from  Languedoc,  and  replaced 


THE    MARECHAL    DUC    DE  BERWICK 


393 


fyrr/i'rc  3>'  fa  qrdrj't 
2e  Tan.tjbnàue  jur  la 

Vu  Retins  Je  ^ruu  U  front)  fr 
Vjmriay  *.4i-cheuejatte.  de  Part. 


Cloche dfm:cDarri&\ 
i)  erre  in,  kyi.Octnt.  ioSt 

^P.iTTitjftrnr  Je  f^raneaij 
■et  Pair  Je  LVr, 


by  the  Maréchal  de  Berwick.  The  ill-fortune  of  the  King's  foreign  wars 
gave  heart  to  the  fanatics  of  Languedoc,  who  hoped  for  help  from  Heaven, 
and  received  it  from  the  allies.  Money  reached  them  by  way  of  Geneva. 
They  expected  officers  to  be  sent  them  from  Holland  and  England,  and 
had  sources  of  information  in  all  the  towns  of  the  province. 

Among  the  greatest  of  conspiracies  we  may  rank  the  plot  formed  by 
the  fanatics  to  seize  the  Duc  de  Berwick  and  Intendant  Bâville  at  Nîmes, 
and  to  rise  in  Languedoc  and 
Dauphiné  and  bring  in  the 
enemy.  The  secret  was  kept  by 
over  a  thousand  conspirators. 
The  indiscretion  of  one  revealed 
everything.  More  than  two 
hundred  persons  were  put  to 
cruel  deaths.  The  Maréchal  de 
Berwick  had  every  one  of  the 
unfortunate  men  who  were  taken 
executed.  Some  died  fight- 
ing, others  on  the  wheel  or  in 
the  flames.  Some  of  the  rebels, 
more  given  to  prophecy  than  to 
arms,  found  means  of  going  to 
Holland.  There  the  French 
refugees  received  them  as  celes- 
tial messengers  :  they  walked 
before  them,  singing  psalms 
and  strewing  their  path  with 
green  foliage.     Many  of  these 

prophets  went  to  England,  but  as  they  regarded  the  Church  of  England 
as  too  much  like  the  Church  of  Koine,  they  resolved  to  make  their 
own  dominant.  So  implicit  and  full  was  their  conviction  of  the  wonder- 
working power  of  faith  that  they  undertook  to  resuscitate  a  dead  man — 
any  corpse  which  might  be  chosen.  The  people  are  ignorant  everywhere. 
Who  would  believe  that  Fatio  Duiller,  one  of  the  greatest  European 
geometricians,  and  an  accomplished  man  of  letters,  Daudé  by  name,  were 
at  the  head  of  these  demoniacs  ?  But  fanaticism  can  make  even  science  its 
accomplice. 

3  E 


(iter  CùirMr  a  R^ftnt»  J^ttr  evenfer  ûx  fjlnee  de  idle       ulesir  vtt  r-teiu  jotv  ie  itrm.de.  S . 
tfnetjuej  tis  tjui  nteoU  eJte'  donnée  par  ie  Conte   tie  .Mûntnttiu t  ottant  /tlet  i  +  oo. 
f-'l.h  ,?  p.* 'je  hunt  fier  if  !??  -\  pf  Jeteur  par  le  h  t.  t,-^'  '■      •  ■' ,  .'■»;>■:■>-  or 


THE  GREAT  UELL  OK  NÔTRE  DAME  DE  PARIS. 


394  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

The  English  Government  took  the  course  that  ought  always  to  be 
adopted  with  pretenders  to  miraculous  powers.  They  were  permitted  to 
disinter  a  corpse  from  the  graveyard  of  a  cathedral.  The  place  was 
surrounded  with  soldiers.  Everything  was  done  judicially.  The  scene 
ended  with  the  appearance  of  the  prophets  in  the  pillory. 

This  excess  of  fanaticism  could  not  succeed  in  England,  where 
philosophy  was  beginning  to  reign.  The  fanatics  no  longer  troubled 
Germany,  where  the  three  religions,  Catholic,  Evangelical  and  Reformed, 
were  equally  protected  by  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia.  The  United 
Provinces,  with  politic  toleration,  admitted  all  religions  into  their  territory. 
In  fact,  at  the  close  of  the  century,  France  only  was  exposed  to  serious 
ecclesiastical  quarrels.  Reason,  which  makes  its  way  so  slowly  among  the 
learned,  had  hardly  reached  the  doctors,  to  say  nothing  of  the  common  herd. 
Reason  must  first  be  established  in  the  principal  heads  ;  it  comes  down  to 
the  others  by  degrees.  It  finally  governs  even  the  people,  who  do  not 
know  it,  but  who  learn  to  be  moderate  from  seeing  that  their  superiors 
are  so.  This  is  one  of  the  great  works  of  Time.  The  hour  had  not 
yet  come. 

* 

Voltaire  is  very  hard  on  the  Camisards  (White  Shirts),  whose  revolt 
was  partly  the  effect  of  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  which  he 
has  strongly  condemned.  Saint-Simon  is  more  indulgent  and  more 
equitable. 

"  This  name  of  Phanatiques  had  been  given  them,"  he  says,  "  because 
each  band  of  the  rebellious  Protestants  was  accompanied  by  a  so-called 
prophet  or  prophetess,  who  claimed  to  be  inspired,  and  acting  in 
complicity  with  the  leaders,  led  these  people  whithersoever  they  would. 
Languedoc  had  suffered  for  many  years  from  the  tyranny  of  the 
Intendent  Bàville.  He  was  a  man  of  ability,  very  active,  and  a  very 
hard  worker.  He  was  also  cunning,  artful,  and  implacable  ;  he  knew  how 
to  serve  his  friends,  and  how  to  secure  '  creatures/  above  all  he  had  a 
masterful  way  with  him,  which  broke  down  all  resistance,  and  was  not 
checked  by  any  scruple  as  to  the  means  of  attaining  his  ends.  This 
man  of  great,  luminous,  and  imperious  mind  was  dreaded  by  the 
ministers,  who  would  not  let  him  approach  the  Court,  and  in  order  to 
keep  him  in  Languedoc  left  him  full  powers,  which  he  abused  without 


VOLTAIRE    ANT)  SAINT-SIMON 


395 


stint.  Less  Intendant  than  King,  lie  resolved,  together  with  Broglio  his 
brother-in-law,  to  keep  up  his  importance,  and  harassed  the  non- 
converted,  or  the  half-con  verted,  into  rioting." 

Saint-Simon  adds  :  "  Had  they  not  maltreated  anyone  except  within 
the  bounds  of  legitimate  warfare  ;  had  they  merely  demanded  liberty  of 
conscience  and  lighter  taxation;  many  Catholics  would  have  joined  them, 
and  under  their  protection  thrown  off  the  mask  which  fear  and  the  hope 
that  these  troubles  would  lead  to  some  relief  in  the  general  condition 
made  them  wear.  Then  the  Camisards  would  have  been  in  a  majority. 
The  country  has  reason  to  thank  the  access  of  fanaticism  that  made  them 
commit  the  worst  excesses 
in  sacrilege,  in  murder, 
and  in  the  torture  of 
priests  and  monks." 

It  is  curious  to  find 
a  Catholic  like  Saint-Simon 
more  just  than  a  philo- 
sopher such  as  Voltaire. 
The  whole  truth  is  all 
there:  the  effects  of  the 
religious  policy  of  the 
Ministers  of  Louis  XIV.  in 
the  provinces  according  to 
the  "mot  d'ordre"  given 
in  1G85,  so  evident  that 
for  a  whole  year  Madame  de  Maintciion  hid  the  first  troubles  in  the 
Cévennes  from  the  King,  the  zeal  of  the  Catholics,  and  especially 
the  ecclesiastics  against  the  "sect,"  the  principal  anise,  says  Saint  Hilaire, 
the  general  discontent  in  Languedoc  had  far  more  to  do  with  the  sedition 
than  had  the  spirit  of  revolt  and  fanaticism  among  the  Protestants. 
But  the  Government  was  too  glad  of  their  excesses,  which  enabled  it  to 
conceal  its  own  mistakes,  and  to  throw  the  whole  responsibility  upon 
them.  The  avowal,  made  by  Saint-Simon,  is  precious.  It  explains,  on 
the  other  hand,  how,  thirty  years  later,  Voltaire  was  led  to  judge  the 
Camisards  so  severely.  In  the  opinion  of  all  the  subjects  of  Louis  XIV. 
and  in  his  own,  a  revolt  against  the  King's  authority,  accompanied  by 
the   sanguinary   excesses   of   an    unrestrained    populace,   condemned  the 


THE  DEMOLITION  OF  THE  TEMPLE  AT  CHAKENTON. 


306 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Protestants  of  the  Cévennes  absolutely.  As  a  philosopher,  in  short, 
Voltaire  considered  their  fanaticism  unpardonable  and  their  prophecies 
ridiculous.  Although  we  may  explain  the  conclusion  at  which  he  arrived 
on  these  grounds,  we  cannot  but  think  that  Saint-Simon  reaches  a 
sounder  one  respecting  the  deplorable  strife  between  Louis  XIV.  and  the 
French  Calvinists. 


TAILPIECE  ENGRAVED  BY  SÉBASTIEN  LECLEEC. 


COMPOSITION    BY   I.KBBI'N   IN   HONOUB  OF   LOUIS  XIV. 
(Kngravpd  by  S.  holm-.) 


III 

JANSENISM. 

T  T  was  inevitable  that  Calvinism  should  give 
rise  fco  civil  wars,  and  shake  the  foundations 
of  States.  Jansenism  could  excite  only  theological 
quarrels,  and  wars  of  the  pen;  for,  the  reformers 
of  the  sixteenth  century  having  burst  the  bonds 
hv  which  the  lvonian  Church  held  men;  having 
treated  as  idolatrous  all  that  she  held  most 
sacred;  having  opened  the  doors  of  her  cloisters, 
and  given  her  treasures  into  secular  hands;  one  of  the  two  parties  must 
needs  be  destroyed  by  the  other.  In  fact,  wherever  the  religion  of  Calvin 
and  of  Luther  has  appeared,  it  has  given  rise  to  persecution  and  war. 
But  the  Jansenists,  who  did  not  attack  the  Church,  did  not  object  to 
its  fundamental  dogmas,  or  its  worldly  wealth,  and  who  wrote  upon 
abstract  questions  against  the  reformed  sects,  and  against  the  constitutions 
of  the  Popes,  had  no  influence  anywhere  after  a  while,  and  their  sect  was 
despised  throughout  almost  the  whole  of  Europe,  although  it  had  possessed 
many  adherents  of  ability  and  high  character. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  Huguenots  were  attracting  serious  attention, 
Jansenism  was  causing  more  disquiet  than  concern  in  France.  These 
disputes,  like  many  others,  were  not  home-made.    About  1552,  a  learned 


398 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


doctor  of  Louvain,  named  Michel  Bay,  or  Bai'us,  according  to  the  pedantic 
fashion  of  those  times,  thought  proper  to  assert  certain  propositions 
respecting  grace  and  predestination.  This  question  leads  into  the  labyrinth 
of  fatality  and  liberty  of  will,  in  which  all  antiquity  lost  its  way,  and  to 
which  man  holds  not  the  clue.  The  spirit  of  curiosity  given  by  God  to 
man,  the  impulsion  necessary  for  our  instruction,  carries  us  beyond  the  goal, 
like  all  the  other  impulses  of  our  mind,  which,  if  they  could  not  push 
us  too  far,  would  perhaps  never   excite  us  sufficiently.      And  so  men 

have  disputed  on  that  which  they 
do  know,  and  that  which  they  do 
not  know  ;  but  the  disputes  of 
the  philosophers  of  antiquity 
were  always  peaceable,  while 
those  of  theologians  have  often 
been  sanguinary,  and  always 
turbulent. 

Certain  Franciscans,  who 
understood  these  questions  no 
more  than  did  Michel  Bai'us, 
believed  free  will  to  be  denied, 
and  the  doctrine  of  Duns  Scotus 
imperilled.  Being  angry  besides 
with  Bai'us  on  the  subject  of  a 
quarrel  of  a  somewhat  similar 
nature,  they  tendered  seventy- 
It  was  Sixtus  V.,  then  General 
of  the  Franciscans,  who  drew  up  the  bull  of  condemnation  in  1567. 

The  seventy-six  propositions  were  condemned  wholesale,  as  heretical, 
breathing  heresy,  offensive  and  rash  ;  but  the  judgment  specified  nothing, 
and  entered  into  no  detail. 

Such  a  method  attaches  to  supreme  power,  and  leaves  little  matter 
for  dispute.  The  learned  doctors  of  Louvain  were  greatly  embarrassed  on 
receiving  the  bull,  especially  by  a  phrase  in  which  a  comma  put  one  way 
condemned,  but  put  another  way  tolerated,  certain  opinions  of  Michel 
Bai'us.  The  University  sent  a  deputation  to  Rome  to  learn  from  the 
Holy  Father  where  the  comma  was  to  be  placed.  The  Court  of  Rome, 
having  other  affairs  on  hand,  for  an  answer  sent  the  Flemish  savants 


M0L1N0S    THE  JESUIT 


399 


a  copy  of  the  bull  ou  which  the  comma  did  not  appear  at  all.  This 
was  deposited  in  the  archives.  Morillon,  the  Grand  Vicaire,  said  that  the 
papal  bull  must  be  received  even  thowjh  their,  .should  be  errors  in  it. 
Morillon  was  right  in  his  policy,  for  it  is  certainly  better  to  receive  a 
hundred  eroneous  bulls  than  to  burn  a  hundred  towns,  which  was  done  by 
the  Huguenots  and  their  adversaries.  Baïus  acted  on  what  Morillon  said, 
aud  made  his  retractation  quietly. 

Some  years  later,  Spain,  always  fertile  in  scholastic  writers,  though  so 
barren  of  philosophers,  produced  Molinos  the  Jesuit,  who  believed  he  had 


THE  NOVITIATE  AND  THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  JESUIT  PROFESSORS  AT  ST.  QERMAIN-DES-PRÉS. 
(Kruui  a  print  by  Lep&utre  ami  Van  Merlen.} 

discovered  precisely  how  God  acts  upon  creatures,  ami  how  creatures  resist 
Him.  lie  made  a  distinction  between  the  natural  order  and  the  supernatural 
order,  predestination  to  grace  and  predestination  to  glory,  grace  prevenient 
and  grace  co-operative.  He  was  the  inventor  of  concomitant  concurrence, 
medium  knowledge  (science  moyenne)  and  congruism.  The  two  latter 
especially  were  strange  ideas.  God  by  His  medium  knowledge  (science 
moyenne)  consults  a  mans  will  in  order  to  know  what  that  man  will  do 
when  he  shall  have  grace;  and  then,  according  to  that  use  of  free  will 
which  He  divines,  He  makes  His  arrangements  to  influence  the  man  ;  and 
these  arrangements  are  congruism. 

The  Spanish  Dominicans,  who  no  more  understood  this  explanation 
than  did  the  Jesuits,  but  who  were  jealous  of  them,  wrote  that  the  book 
of  Molinos  was  the  precursor  of  Antichrist. 


400 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


The  Court  of  Rome  took  cognizance  of  the  dispute,  which  was  already 
in  the  hands  of  the  Grand  Inquisitors,  and  with  much  wisdom  enjoined 
silence  on  both  parties,  neither  of  whom  heeded  the  injunction.  At  length 
the  case  was  seriously  pleaded  before  Clement  VIII.,  and  all  Rome  took 
part  in  the  suit.  The  proceedings  were  tedious,  incomprehensible  and 
inconclusive. 

Clement  VIII.  died  before  he  had  been  able  to  elucidate  the  argu- 
ments on  either  side.  Paul  V. 
resumed  the  suit,  but,  as  he 
himself  was  engaged  in  a 
more  important  one  with  the 
Republic  of  Venice,  he  put  a 
stop  to  all  the  meetings,  then 
and  still  called  de  auxiliis. 
Paul  V.  ended  by  calling 
on  both  parties  to  live  in 
peace. 

While  the  Jesuits  were 
establishing  their  science  moy- 
enne and  their  congruism, 
Cornelius  Jansen,  Bishop  of 
Ypres,  wras  reviving  some  of 
the  ideas  of  Baïus  in  a  large 
book  on  St.  Augustine,  which 
was  not  printed  until  after 
his  death.  Thus  he  became  the 
head  of  a  sect  without  ever 
knowing  it.  His  book,  which  has  caused  so  much  disturbance,  had  hardly 
any  readers,  but  Duverger  de  Hauranne,  Abbé  de  Saint-Cyran,  a  friend 
of  Jansen,  who  was  as  ardent  in  his  opinion  as  he  was  diffuse  and  obscure 
in  his  writings,  came  to  Paris  and  persuaded  young  doctors  and  a  few 
old  women.  The  Jesuits  demanded  the  condemnation  of  Jansen's 
book,  as  a  sequel  to  that  of  Baïus,  and  obtained  this  in  1641.  But 
in  Paris,  the  Faculty  of  Theology  and  all  reasoning  folk  were  divided. 
There  was  not  much  to  gain  in  thinking  with  Jansen  that  God 
commands  impossible  things  ;  that  is  neither  philosophic  nor  consoling  ; 
but    the    secret    satisfaction    of    belonging    to    a    party,    the  enmity 


tin;   l'AMitrs   a  it  n  acli  > 


401 


inspired  by  the  Jesuits,  the  love  of  cheating  and  excitement,  created  a 
sect.  The  Faculty  condemned  five  propositions  of  Jansen's.  These  were 
taken  from  the  book  quite  faithfully,  as  to  the  sense,  but  not  as  to  the 
exact  words.  Sixty  doctors  appealed  against  the  condemnation,  and  ordered 
the  parties  to  appear  before  the  Court. 

The  parties  to  the  suit  did  not  appear  :  but,  on  one  side,  a  doctor, 
named  Habert,  attacked  Jansen  ;    on  the  other,  the  famous  Arnauld,  a 


TKl-i:  ltKMOION  TKHTMPH ANT  I'NUKIt  LOUIS  XIV. 

(Picture  by  Lebrun i  engrave  1  by  Kiclimk.) 


disciple  of  Saint-Cyran,  defended  Jansenism.  He  hated  the  Jesuits  even 
more  than  he  loved  efficacious  grace  :  and  he  was  disliked  by  them  as 
the  son  of  a  father  who  had  pleaded  strongly  at  the  bar  with  the 
University  against  their  establishment.  His  kinsmen  were  of  good  repute, 
both  in  the  law  and  in  the  arm  v.  I  lis  talent,  and  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  was  placed,  gave  him  a  taste  for  literary  warfare,  and  his  ambition 
to  become  the  leader  of  a  party  absorbed  every  other.  He  disputed 
with  Jesuits  and  protestants  impartially  until  he  was  eighty  years  of 
age.     We  have   four   hundred  volumes   from  his   pen.     Hardly  one  of 

3  F 


402 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


these  can  rank  with  the  classic  literature  that  does  honour  to  the 
century  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  is  included  in  the  libraries  of  every  country. 

The  works  of  Arnauld  had  great  influence  in  his  day,  on  account  of 
the  renown  of  the  author  and  the  heat  of  the  debate.    That  warmth  has 

cooled  down  :  the  books  have  been 
forgotten.  These  only  remain  :  "La 
Géométrie,"  "  La  Grammaire  raison- 
née,"  and  "La  Logique."  Arnauld's 
mind  was  essentially  philosophic,  but 
his  philosophy  was  tainted  by  party 
spirit  and  obstinacy  ;  for  sixty  years 
these  diverted  a  great  intellect  from 
its  true  purpose,  which  was  the 
enlightenment  of  mankind. 

The  University  was  divided 
upon  these  five  famous  propositions, 
and  the  bishops  also  were  of  two 
opinions.  Eighty-eight  French 
bishops  wrote  collectively  to  Inno- 
cent X.   begging  for  his  decision, 


and   eleven   others  wrote  be  ooin  g 

Do  o 

him  to  do  nothing.  Innocent  X. 
gave  judgment  ;  he  condemned  each 
of  the  five  propositions  severally, 
but  without  quoting  the  pages 
from  which  they  were  taken,  those 
which  preceded  or  those  which 
followed  them. 

This  omission,  which  could  not 
have  occurred  in  a  civil  suit  in  any 


THE  1ÎOAD  TO  HEAVEN. 

(A  popular  print  of  the  .Tansenist  party,  showing,  on  the  right, 
the  road  to  Paradise  for  the  elect,  on  the  left,  the  road 
to  Hell  for  the  Jesuits  and  their  partisans.) 


court,  was  made  by  the  Sorbonne, 
the  Jansenists,  the  Jesuits,  and  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  The  ground  of 
the  five  condemned  propositions  is  evidently  in  Jansen.  In  the  third 
volume,  page  138,  of  the  Paris  edition  of  1641,  the  following  passage 
is  to  be  found,  word  for  word  : — 

"  All  this  demonstrates  plainly  and  evidently  that  there  is  nothing 
more  certain  and  more  fundamental  in  the  doctrine  of  Saint  Augustine  than 


AHNAULD'S    INDEFATK!  ABLE  PEX 


403 


that  certain  commandments  are 
impossible,  not  only  to  un- 
believers, the  blind,  and  the 
impenitent,  but  to  the  faithful 
and  the  just,  in  spite  of  their 
o-ood  will  and  their  efforts, 
according  to  the  strength  they 
possess;  and  that  the  grace  which 
can  make  these  commandments 
possible  is  wanting  in  them." 
On  page  105  are  these  words  : — 
"That  Jesus  Christ,  according 
to  Saint  Augustine,  did  not  die 
for  all  men." 

Cardinal  Mazarin  caused 
the  Pope's  Bull  to  be  unani- 
mously received  by  the  Assembly 
of  the  Clergy.  lie  was  then 
on  good  terms  with  the  Tope  ; 
he  did  not  like  the  Jansenists, 
and  he  justly  disliked  factions. 

Peace  seemed  to  be  restored 
to  the  Church  of  France  ;  but 

the  Jansenists  wrote  so  many  letters  ;  Saint  Augustine  was  so  much  quoted  ; 
so  many  women  were  set  to  work,  that  after  the  Bull  had  been  accepted 

there  were  more  Jansenists  than 
ever. 

A  priest  of  Saint-Sulpice 
refused  absolution  to  the  Due 
dc  Liancourt  -Dondcauville 
because  it  was  said  that  he  did 
not  believe  the  five  propositions 
were  iu  Jansen's  work,  and 
that  he  had  heretics  in  his  house. 
This  was  a  new  scandal,  a  fresh 

A  JANSENIST  SATIKK  CPON  THE  CONSTITUTIONS  OF  Till:  POPES       .subject     fol*    AnUluld's     peU.  He 

(1661-1665).  , .        ,         ,      ,  -, 

,.    ,  immediately    declared    m  a 

(Ithiu  nn  engraving  in  the  Cabinet  ot  Prints.)  J 


TOPK  INNOCENT  X. 

(From  the  portrait  i>y  Velasqnez,  preserve  i  in  England, 
engraved  by  (ireeu.) 


404 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUTS  XIV 


letter  to  a  duke  and  peer,  real  or  imaginary,  that  the  condemned 
propositions  of  Jansen  were  not  in  Jansen,  hut  that  they  were  to  be 
found  in  the  works  of  Saint  Augustine  and  other  Fathers.  He  added,  "  Saint 
Peter  was  a  just  man  to  whom  grace,  without  which  one  can  do  nothing, 
was  wanting." 

It  is  true  that  Saint  Augustine  and  Saint  John  Chrysostom  had  said 


DEFEAT  OF  THE  JANSENISTS  BY  THE  POPE,   RELIGION,   AND  LOUIS  XIV. 
(After  au  Almauac  of  1653.) 


the  same  thing  ;  but  circumstances,  which  alter  cases,  convicted  Arnauld. 
The  Faculty  assembled  ;  the  Chancellor  (Séguier)  attended  on  behalf  of 
the  King.  Arnauld  was  condemned,  and  excluded  from  the  Sorbonne,  in 
lf>54.  The  presence  of  the  Chancellor  among  theologians  had  an  air 
of  despotism  that  displeased  the  public,  and  the  number  of  doctors  who 
crowded  the  hall  caused  Pascal  to  remark  in  his  "  Lettres  Provinciales," 
that  "  it  was  easier  to  find  monks  than  reasons." 

The  greater  number  of  these  monks  denied  the  peculiar  doctrines  of 
Molinos  ;   but  they  maintained  a  "  grace  sufficient,"  to  which  the  will  can 


PKTTY  PERSECUTION 


4').-, 


consent,  and  never  consents  ;  a 
grace  efficacious,  which  the  will 
can  resist,  and  does  not  resist  ; 
and  they  explained  this  clearly 
by  saying  that  the  will  can 
resist  that  grace  in  the  divided, 
and  not  in  the  composite  sense. 

The  opinion  of  Arnauld 
and  the  Jansenists  seemed  to 
approach  pure  Calvinism  too 
closely.  This  was  precisely 
the  ground  of  the  quarrel 
between  the  Comarists  and  the 
Arminians.  That  quarrel  di- 
vided Holland,  as  Jansenism 
divided  France  ;  but  in  Holland 
it  became  a  political  faction 
rather  than  a  learned  discussion, 
and  led  to  the  execution  of 
Jan  de  Barnevelt,  Grand  Pen- 
sionary of  Holland.  This  atrocious  deed  is  now  deplored  by  the  Dutch, 
whose  eyes  have  been  opened  to  the  absurdity  of  these  disputes,  the 
horrors  of  persecution,  and  the  necessity  for  toleration,  which  is  the  resource 

of  wise  rulers  against  the  vehe- 

O 

ment  passion  of  disputants.  In 
France  t  lie  dispute  produced  only 
episcopal  pastorals,  Bulls,  "  let- 
t  res  de  cachet,  and  pamphlets, 
because  the  country  had  more 
important  quarrels  on  hand. 

Arnauld  was  then  merely 
excluded  from  the  Faculty. 
This  petty  persecution  secured 
him  a  number  of  friends,  but 
he  and  the  Jansenists  had  the 
Church  and  the  Pope  against 
them  always.    One  of  the  first 


DUVEBGIEB  DtJHATJEANNE,  ABBÉ  DE  SAINT-CYHAN. 
(Original  portrait  I>y  Philippe  ilo  Champagne. — Musée  >'e  Versailles.) 


STUNS  IN  CHAPTER. — THE  CHOIR  OF  PORT-ROYAL 
DES  CHAMPS. 

(Copied  from  an  anonym  as  print.) 


40G 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


proceedings  of  Alexander  VIL,  who  succeeded  Innocent  X.,  was  to  renew 
the  censures  upon  the  five  propositions.  The  bishops  of  France,  who 
had  already  drawn  up  a  formula,  drew  up  a  second,  which  concluded  as 
follows  :  "  I  condemn  with  heart  and  voice  the  doctrine  of  the  five 
propositions  contained  in  the  book  of  Cornelius  Jansen  ;  the  doctrine  is 
not  that  of  Saint  Augustine,  which  Jansen  has  misconstrued."' 

Afterwards  this  formula  had  to  be  subscribed  ;  and  each  of  the  bishops 
presented  it  to  all  suspected  persons  in  his  diocese.  The  nuns  of  Port- 
Royal  of  Paris  and  Port-Royal  des  Champs  were  called  upon  to  sign 
it.  These  two  houses  were  the  sanctuary  of  Jansenism  :  Saint-Cyran  and 
Arnauld  governed  them. 

Close  by  the  Monastery  of  Port-Royal  des  Champs,  they  had  estab- 
lished a  house  in  which  several 
excellent  and  learned,  but 
wrong-headed  men,  united  by 
their  common  opinions,  lived 
in  retirement,  engaged  in 
the  teaching  of  select  pupils. 
From  this  school  came  Racine, 
the  poet,  who  of  all  poets 
best  knew  the  human  heart. 
(From  a  print  of  the  time.)  Pascal,  first  of  French  sati- 

rists, for  Boileau  but  was  the  second,  was  intimately  associated 
with  these  illustrious  and  dangerous  solitaries.  The  formula  was 
presented  to  the  nuns  of  Port-Royal  of  Paris  and  Port-Royal  des 
Champs  for  their  signatures.  They  replied  that  they  could  not 
conscientiously  affirm  with  the  Pope  and  the  bishops  that  the  five 
propositions  were  in  the  book  written  by  Jansen,  which  they  had  not 
read  ;  that  no  doubt  his  meaning  had  been  mistaken  ;  that  the  five 
propositions  might  be  erroneous,  but  Jansen  was  not  in  the  wrong. 

Their  obstinacy  made  the  Court  angry.  Civil  Lieutenant  d'Aubray 
(there  was  not  as  yet  a  Lieutenant  of  Police)  went  to  Port-Royal  to  turn 
out  all  the  recluses  who  had  retired  thither,  and  all  the  youths  whom  they 
were  educating.  The  demolition  of  the  two  monasteries  was  threatened  : 
a  miracle  saved  them. 

Mademoiselle  Perrier,  a  pupil  at  Port-Royal  of  Paris,  and  niece  of 
the  celebrated  Pascal,  was  suddenly  cured  of  a  malady  of  the  eyes,  which 


THK  SISTERS  OF  PORT-ROYAL  EXPELLED  BY  ORDER 
OF  THE  KING. 


THE    CUKE    OF    MADEMOISELLE  PERRIER 


407 


had  been  pronounced  hopeless,  by  kissing  a  relic  of  the  Crown  of  Thorns 
that  had  been  for  some  time  in  the  possession  of  the  nuns  of  Port-Royal. 
It  was  asserted  that  the  cure  had  been  instantaneous,  but  the  lady  lived 
until  17:38,  and  persons  who  lived  for  a  long  time  with  her  have  assured 
me  that  cure  in  her  case  was  remarkably  slow.  However,  the  miracle 
established  the  credit  of  the  nuns,  who  persisted  in  repeating  that  either 
Cornelius  Jansen  had  not  written  the  lines  which  are  attributed  to  him,  or 
that  he  had  not  intended  them  in  the  imputed  sense. 

The  miracle  became  so  famous  that  the  Jesuits  wrote  against  it.  Père 


THK  CHURCH  OF  THK  MONASTERY  OF  Till;  HOLY  SACRAMENT,  OR  POET-ROYAL  OF  PARIS 

(faubourg  saint-Jacques). 
(A  print  by  JIarot.) 

Amiat,  the  confessor  of  Louis  XIV.,  published  "  Le  Rabat-joie  des 
Jansénistes,  à  l'occasion  du  miracle  qu'on  dit  être  arrivé  à  Port-Royal, 
par  un  docteur  catholique."  Père  Annal  was  not  a  "doctor,"  nor  was 
he  learned  (docte).  He  attempted  to  demonstrate  that  if  a  thorn  taken 
from  the  Holy  Crown  in  Judea  had  cured  the  little  Perrier  girl  in  Paris, 
the  fact  was  a  proof  that  Christ  had  died  for  all,  not  for  several 
Everybody  laughed  at  Père  Aunat.  The  Jesuits  had  no  chance  :  the 
Jansenists  were  all  the  fashion.  Some  years  afterwards  the  latter 
proclaimed  a  second  miracle.  A  certain  Sister  Gertrude  was  cured  at 
Port-Royal  of  a  swelling  in  her  leg.  This  prodigy  fell  fiat:  time  had 
passed,  and  Sister  Gertrude  was  not  the  niece  of  a  Pascal. 

The  Jesuits  had  popes  and  kings  on  their  side,  but  they  were  of  no 
account  among  the  people  anywhere.  Old  stories,  such  as  the  assassination 
of  Henri  IV.,  their  banishment  from  France  and  Venice,  the  Gunpowder 


408 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Plot,  and  the  bankruptcy  of  Seville  were  raked  up  against  them.  Every 
means  was  employed  to  make  them  odious  ;  but  Pascal  did  worse  :  he 
made  them  ridiculous.  His  "  Lettres  Provinciales  "  which  appeared  at  that 
time  were  a  model  of  eloquence  and  humour.  The  best  comedies  by 
Molière  are  not  more  witty  than  the  first  "  Lettres  Provinciales  ;  " 
Bossuet  has  not  equalled  the  last  in  sublimity. 

It  is  true  that  the  whole 
book  was  destitute  of  foun- 
dation. The  extravagant 
notions  of  some  Spaniards  and 
Flemings  among  its  members 
were  imputed  to  the  whole 
Society  of  Jesus.  These  notions 
might  have  been  discovered  as 
readily  among  the  Dominican 
and  Franciscan  casuists  ;  but 
Pascal  aimed  at  the  Jesuits 
only.  The  famous  letters  at- 
tempted to  prove  that  the 
definite  purpose  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus  was  to  corrupt  the 
morals  of  mankind — a  design 
which  no  sect,  no  society  has 
ever  entertained  and  cannot 
entertain  ;  but  the  matter  in 
hand  was  not  to  be  in  the 
right,  it  was  to  amuse  the 
public. 

The  Jesuits,  who  had  no  good  writer  at  that  time,  could  not  get  rid 
of  the  opprobrium  with  which  the  most  ably-written  book  that  had  yet 
appeared  in  France  covered  them  ;  but  almost  the  same  thing  occurred  in 
their  quarrels  that  had  happened  to  Cardinal  Mazarin.  Blot,  Marigny, 
Barbançon,  and  others  had  made  all  France  laugh  at  his  expense,  and  he 
was  the  master  of  France.  The  Jesuits  had  influence  enough  to  get 
the  "  Lettres  Provinciales  "  burned  by  a  decree  of  the  parliament  of 
Provence,  but  they  were  none  the  less  ridiculous  for  that,  and  the  fact 
made  them  more  hateful  to  the  nation. 


PASCAL  AS  A  CHILI). 

(l'rom  an  original  drawing  by  Donnât,  found  in  a  corpus  juris 
in  liis  library  by  his  son.) 


PORT-ROYAL    OF  PARIS 


409 


The  principal  nuns  of  the  Abbey  of  Port-Royal  of  Paris  were  removed 
under  escort  of  two  hundred  guards,  and  dispersed  among  other  convents  : 
only  those  who  consented  to  sign  the  formulary  were  permitted  to  remain. 
All  Paris  was  astir  at  the  dispersion  of  these  nuns.  Sister  Perdreau  and 
Sister  Passart,  who  signed  and  made  others  sign,  were  made  the  subject 
of  jests  and  songs  by  the  sort  of  idlers  who  never  see  any  but  the 
funny  side  of  things,  and  who 
go  on  amusing  themselves, 
while  true  believers  groan, 
malcontents  vociferate,  and  the 
Government  acts. 

The  Jansenists  throve  on 
persecution.     Four  prelates, 
Arnauld,    Bishop    of  Angers, 
the  doctor's  brother  ;  Buzenval, 
Bishop  of  Beauvais  ;  Pavilion, 
Bishop  of  Aleth,  and  Caulet, 
Bishop    of    Pamiers   (he  who 
afterwards  resisted  Louis  XIV. 
in  the  matter  of  the  regalia) 
declared  against  the  formulary. 
This  was  a  new  formulary  com- 
posed by  Pope  Alexander  VII. 
himself  ;  its  grounds  were  the 
same  as  the  former  in  every 
respect  ;    it   was    accepted  in 
France    by    the   bishops,  and 
even    by    the  parliaments. 

Alexander  VII.  was  indignant,  and  appointed  nine  French  bishops  to 
try  the  four  refractory  prelates.  On  this  (he  public  mind  became  more 
than  ever  excited. 

But,  just  as  everybody  was  in  a  fever  to  know  whether  the  five 
propositions  were  or  were  not  in  the  writings  of  Jansen,  Cardinal 
Rospigliosi  became  Pope,  under  the  name  of  Clement  IX.,  and  pacified 
everything  for  some  time.  He  induced  the  four  prelates  to  sign  the 
formulary  "sincerely,"  instead  of  "purely  and  simply;"  so  that  it  seemed 
to  be  allowable  to  believe,  while  condemning  the  five  propositions,  that  they 


(From  an  anonymous  coloured  drawing  w  hich*  might  he  attributed 
to  ESdellnck,  in  the  Cabinet  of  Prints.) 


3  G 


410 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


were  not  taken  from  Jansen.  The  four  Bishops  gave  some  feeble  explana- 
tions ;  and  Italian  affability  quieted  down  French  vivacity.  One  word 
substituted  for  another  effected  that  peace  which  was  called  "the  peace 
of  Clement  IX.,"  and  even  "The  peace  of  the  Church,"  although  the 
existence  of  the  dispute  was  hardly  known  outside  of  France.  It  appears 
that  since  the  time  of  Baïus  the  Popes  had  always  tried  to  suppress  these 

controversies,  in  which  no  un- 
derstanding can  be  reached, 
and  to  induce  the  two  parties 
to  inculcate  a  uniform  morality, 
which  everybody  understands. 
Nothing  could  be  more  reason- 
able ;  but  the  Popes  had  to  deal 
with  men. 

The  Government  liberated 
the  Jansenists  who  were  im- 
prisoned in  the  Bastille,  and 
among  them  Sacy,  author  of 
"  La  Version  du  Testament." 
The  banished  nuns  were 
brought  back  ;  they  signed 
"  sincerely,"  and  believed  the 
word  to  be  a  triumph  for 
them.  Arnauld  emerged  from 
his  retreat  and  was  presented 
to  the  King,  received  by  the 
Nuncio,  and  regarded  by  the 
public  {IS  Bi  Father  of  the 
Church.  He  undertook  to  fight 
none  but  Calvinists  henceforth  ;  for  fight  he  must.  This  period  of 
tranquillity  produced  his  book  entitled,  "  La  Perpétuité  de  la  Foi,"  in 
which  he  was  assisted  by  Nicole  (Jansenist,  theologian,  and  moralist). 
Their  joint  work  was  the  subject  of  the  great  controversy  between  them 
and  Claude  (the  French  protestant  minister,  controversialist,  and  author), 
in  which  each  party  claimed  the  victory  as  usual. 

The  peace  of  Clement  IX.  was  but  a  temporary  truce.  Cabals, 
intrigues,  and  reciprocal  accusations  continued  on  both  sides. 


■I.UIlli 


vire dc'Sacv Q 


zcn/irresm 


mm 


ISAAC  LOUIS  LE  MAISTRE  DE  SACY  (1613-1684.) 
(After  a  print  of  Van  Schuppen.) 


JESUITS    AND  JANSENISTS 


413 


The  Duchesse  de  Longue  ville,  sister  of  the  Great  Coudé,  had  become 
devout  late  in  life,  and  as  she  hated  the  Court,  but  could  not  live  without 
scheming,  she  turned  Jansenist,  built  a  house  for  herself  at  Port-Royal 
des  Champs  and  occasionally  retired  thither  with  the  recluses.  This 
was  their  most  flourishing  period.  Arnauld,  Nicole,  Le  Maistre,  De  Sacy, 
Herman,  and  many  other  men  of  great  descent  and  reputation,  although 
less  celebrated,  assembled  at 
her  abode.  The  wit  which 
Madame  de  Longueville 
brought  from  the  Hôtel  de 
Rambouillet  they  supplemented 
by  serious  conversation,  and 
that  manly,  vigorous  and  lively 
spirit  which  characterized  their 
books  and  their  discourses. 
They  contributed  not  a  little 
to  the  spread  of  taste  and 
eloquence  in  France  ;  but  they 
were  unfortunately  more  intent 
on  propagating  their  opinions. 
They  afforded  in  themselves  a 
proof  of  that  fatality  which 
they  were  blamed  for  teaching  ; 
for  they  seemed  to  be  bent  on 
courting  persecution  by  pur- 
suing chimerical  ideas,  while 
they  might  have  lived  happily, 
in  the  highest  consideration,  if  they  would  only  have  refrained  from  vain 
disputes. 

(1G79).  The  Jesuits,  still  smarting  under  the  "  Lettres  Provinciales," 
worked  hard  against  the  Jansenists.  The  Duchesse  de  Longueville,  not- 
having  the  Fronde  to  scheme  for,  schemed  for  Jansenism.  Meetings  were 
held  in  Paris,  now  at  her  hôtel,  again  at  Arnauld's.  The  King,  who  had 
already  resolved  to  extirpate  Calvinism,  would  not  tolerate  a  new  sect.  He 
began  to  threaten,  and  at  length,  Arnauld,  being  deprived  of  the  support  of 
Madame  de  Longueville  by  her  death,  and  in  dread  of  enemies  armed  with 
the  royal  authority,  made  up  his  mind  to  leave  France.    He  went  to  live  in 


ANTOINE  LB  MAÎTRE,  ATTORNEY  TO  THE  PARLIAMENT 

(1608-165:5.) 
(From  a  print  by  Lubin.) 


414 


THE    CENTURY    OF  LOUIS 


XIV 


the  Low  Countries,  in  obscurity,  without  fortune,  without  servants — he  who 
might  have  been  a  Cardinal,  and  whose  nephew  had  been  a  Minister  of  State. 
The  pleasure  of  writing  in  full  freedom  made  up  to  him  for  everything. 
He  lived  until  1694,  in  a  retreat  known  to  his  friends  only,  a  philosopher 
always,  superior  to  evil  fortune,  constantly  writing,  and  to  his  last  hour 
setting  the  example  of  a  pure,  strong  and  resolute  mind. 

His  party  was  still  persecuted  in  the  Catholic  Low  Countries — those 

that  are  called  "  of  obedience," 
and  where  papal  Bulls  are 
sovereign  laws.  It  was  even 
more  persecuted  in  France. 

It  is  strange  that  the 
question  whether  the  five 
propositions  really  were  in 
Jansen's  writings  was  still  the 
sole  pretext  for  this  state  of 
petty  civil  war.  All  minds 
were  occupied  with  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  fact  and 
the  right.  At  last,  in  1701,  a 
theological  problem,  which  was 
called  "  the  case  of  conscience 
par  excellence"  was  propounded 
as  follows  :  "  Might  the  sacra- 
ments be  given  to  a  man 
who  had  signed  the  formu- 
lary while  believing  in  his 
heart  that  the  Pope,  and  even 
the  Church,  may  be  mistaken  on  the  fact  ?  "  Forty  doctors  signed  that 
absolution  might  be  given  to  such  a  man. 

The  war  began  again  immediately.  The  Pope  and  the  bishops  desired 
that  they  should  be  believed  on  the  facts.  Cardinal  de  Noailles  proclaimed 
that  the  right  was  to  be  believed  by  a  divine  faith,  and  the  fact  by  a 
human  faith.  The  others,  and  even  the  Archbishop  of  Cambray  (Fenelon), 
who  was  not  pleased  with  M.  de  Noailles,  required  divine  faith  for  the 
fact.  It  would  perhaps  have  been  better  to  take  the  trouble  of  quoting 
the  pages  of  the  book  ;  this,  however,  never  was  done. 


CARDINAL  ANTOINE  DE  NOAILLES. 
(After  an  anonymous  portrait  in  the  Musée  de  Versailles.) 


NUNS    STONING    A    PAPAL  BULL 


415 


Pope  Clement  XL  issued  the  Bull  Vineam  Domini,  in  1705,  by  which 
he  declared  that  the  fact  was  to  he  believed,  without  explaining  whether 
it  was  to  he  believed  by  a  divine  or  a  human  faith. 

It  was  quite  new  to  the  Church  to  make  nuns  sign  Bulls,  yet  that 
honour  was  done  to  the  nuns  of  Port-Royal  des  Champs.  Cardinal  de 
Noailles  was  obliged  to  send 
the  Bull  to  them  to  test  them. 
They  signed,  without  derogating 
from  tin'  peace  of  Clement  IX., 
and  took  refuge  in  a  respectful 
silence  concerning  the  fact 

The  King  asked  for  a 
Bull  from  the  Pope  for  the 
suppression  of  their  convent. 
Cardinal  de  Noailles  deprived 
them  of  the  sacraments.  Their 
counsel  was  sent  to  the  Bastille. 
All  the  nuns  were  removed 
to  less  disobedient  convents. 
The  Lieutenant  of  Police  had 
their  house  entirely  demolished 
in  1714,  and  the  bodies  which 
were  buried  in  the  church  in 
the  cemetery  were  disinterred, 
and  carried  away  elsewhere. 

The  troubles  were  not  de- 
stroyed with  the  convent.  The 
Jansenists  were  still  bent  on 
caballing,  and  the  Jesuits  on  making  themselves  necessary.  Père  Quesnel, 
a  priest  of  the  Oratoire,  and  a  friend  of  the  celebrated  Arnauld,  who 
was  his  companion  in  retirement  to  the  very  last,  composed  a  book  of 
Reflections  on  the  text  of  the  New  Testament.  This  book  contains 
some  passages  which  might  appear  favourable  to  Jansenism  ;  but  they 
are  mingled  with  so  much  that  is  holy  and  full  of  that  unction 
which  wins  hearts,  that  the  work  was  received  with  universal  applause. 
Good  abounds  in  it  on  every  side,  and  evil  has  to  be  closely  sought  for. 
Several  bishops  bestowed    the  greatest  praise  upon  it  at  its  birth,  and 


PÈRE  QUESNEL. 
(A  portrait  by  Pitau.) 


416 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


confirmed  this  when  the  book  had  received  the  last  perfecting  touches 
from  its  author.  I  know  that  the  Abbé  Eenaudot,  one  of  the  most 
learned  men  in  France,  when  he  was  in  Rome  during  the  first  year  of 
the  pontificate  of  Clement  XL,  went  to  see  the  Pope,  and  found  him 
reading  the  work.  "Here,"  said  His  Holiness,  "is  an  excellent  book.  We 
have  no  one  at  Rome  who  would  be  capable  of  writing  this.  I  wish  I 
could  have  the  author  with  me  here."  The  same  Pope  afterwards  con- 
demned the  work.     We  must  not,  however,  regard  the  praise  of  Pope 

Clement  XI.  and  the  censure 
that  followed  that  praise  as  a 
contradiction.  One  may  be 
struck  by  the  beauties  of  a 
book  at  a  first  reading,  and 
afterwards  discover  its  serious 
faults.  Cardinal  de  Noailles, 
Archbishop  of  Paris,  was  one 
of  the  prelates  who  had  most 
sincerely  praised  the  work  of 
Père  Quesnel.  He  announced 
himself  as  its  patron  when  he 
was  Bishop  of  Chalons,  and  it 
was  dedicated  to  him.  The 
Cardinal,  who  abounded  in 
knowledge  and  in  virtues,  and 
was  the  gentlest  and  most 
peace-loving  of  men,  patronised  some  of  the  Jansenists  without  agreeing 
with  them,  and  had  no  liking  for  the  Jesuits,  but  neither  feared  nor 
harmed  them. 

The  Jesuits  had  been  advancing  in  reputation  since  Père  de  La  Chaise, 
the  director  of  Louis  XIV.,  had  become  virtually  the  head  of  the 
Gallican  Church.  Père  Quesnel,  who  was  afraid  of  them,  had  retired  to 
Brussels  with  the  learned  Benedictine  Gerberon,  a  priest  named  Brigode, 
and  several  others  of  the  same  party.  He  had  become  its  chief  after  the 
death  of  the  famous  Arnauld,  and  enjoyed  like  him  the  pleasure  and 
triumph  of  establishing  a  secret  empire  for  himself,  independent  of 
sovereigns  ;  of  reiçmino;  over  consciences,  and  beins;  the  soul  of  a  faction 
composed  of  persons  of  high  intelligence.    The  Jesuits,  who  were  more 


TIME  CHASES  AWAY  TYRANNY,   FRAUD,   AND  DISCORD  :  THE 
ARCHHISHOP  OF  SÉBASTE  RECOGNISES  GOOD  JANSENISTS 
BY  PASSING  THEM  THROUGH  A  SIEVE. 

(From  a  Jansenist  print  of  1706.) 


PÈRE  QUESNEL 


417 


widely-spread  and  more  powerful  than  his  faction  soon  unearthed  Quesnel 
in  his  solitude.  They  injured  him  with  Philip  V.,  who  was  still  master 
of  the  Low  Countries,  as  they  had  injured  Arnauld,  his  master,  with 
Louis  XIV.  They  obtained  an  order  from  the  King  for  the  arrest  of 
these  solitaries  (1703).  Quesnel  was  put  into  the  Archbishop's  prison  in 
Mechlin.  A  gentleman,  who  thought  the  Jansenist  party  would  make 
his  fortune  if  he  could  deliver 
the  chief,  broke  through  the 
wall,  and  got  out  Quesnel, 
who  retired  to  Amsterdam, 
where  he  died  at  a  great  age 
in  1719,  after  he  had  assisted 
in    forming    a    few  Jansenist 


congregations. 


Tl 


weaklings, 


îe  flock  was 
however, 
>y  day. 


one  of 

and  fell  off  day 

When  lie  was  arrested  his 
papers  were  seized,  and  found 
to  contain  all  the  indications 
of  a  regularly  constituted 
party.  There  was  among  t  hem 
a  copy  of  an  old  contract  made 
by  the  Jansenists  with  Antoi- 
nette Bourignon,  a  famous 
visionary  and  a  rich  woman, 
who  had  bought  the  island  of 
Nordstrand,  near  Holstein,  in 
the  name  of  her  director,  for 
the  purpose  of  forming  a  settlement  for  a  sect  of  mystics  which  she  desired 
to  establish. 

Bourignon  printed  nineteen  big  volumes  of  pious  meditations,  and 
expended  half  of  her  money  in  making  proselytes.  She  had  done  nothing 
except  to  make  herself  ridiculous,  but  she  had  met  with  some  of  the  annoy- 
ances which  attend  every  innovation.  At  length,  in  despair  of  settling 
down  in  her  island,  she  sold  it  to  the  Jansenists,  who  did  not  settle 
down  any  more  than  herself. 

A  second  plan,  which  would   have  been  more  culpable  than  the  first, 

3  11 


PÈRE  UK  LA  CHAISE. 
(.From  a  print  by  Truiivain.) 


418 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


had  it  not  been  insensate,  was  found  in  the  papers  taken  from  Quesnel. 
In  1684,  Louis  XIV.,  having  sent  the  Comte  d'Avaux  to  Holland  fully 
authorised  to  make  a  truce  of  twenty  years  with  the  powers  who  might 
desire  to  enter  into  it,  the  Jansenists,  under  the  name  of  "  The  disciples 
of    Saint   Augustine,"    proposed   to    have    themselves    comprehended  in 

that  truce,  as  if  they  had  been 
in  reality  a  formidable  party 
such  as  the  Calvinists  were  for 
so  long.  This  idea  had  not 
been  acted  on,  but  proposals 
of  peace  between  the  Jansen- 
ists and  the  King  of  France 
had  actually  been  drawn  up 
in  writing.  Such  a  project 
proved  their  desire  to  make 
themselves  out  very  important  ; 
this  was  enough  to  criminate 
them  in  appearance,  and 
Louis  XIV.  was  easily  per- 
suaded to  believe  that  they 
were  dangerous. 

The  King  was  not  suffi- 
ciently instructed  to  know  that 
vain  speculative  opinions  will 
of  themselves  come  to  nothinsf, 
if  they  be  left  to  their  futility. 
To  make  them  matters  of  State 
was  to  give  them  an  unreal 
weight  and  importance.  It 
was  not  difficult  to  cause  the 
book  Père  -  Quesnel  had  written  to  be  regarded  as  culpable,  after  its 
author  •  had  been  treated  as  seditious.  The  Jesuits  induced  the  Kino- 
himself  to  demand  the  condemnation  of  the  book  from  Rome.  This 
was,  in  fact,'  to  have  Cardinal  de  Noailles,  who  had  been  its  most  active 
patron,  condemned.  In  1708,  Pope  Clement  XL  did  issue  a  decree  against 
the  approbation  lavished  on  Quesnel.  Temporal  affairs,  however,  interfered 
with    the    success  of   this  spiritual  matter.      The  Court   was  displeased 


GOD  CONFOUNDS  THE  DESIGNS  OF  THE  PROUD. 
(A  Jansenist  print  by  Janlieu.) 


PÈRE    I,  A  CHAISE 


419 


way  to  conciliation  was  always  open, 


with  Clement  XL,  who  had  recognised  the  Archduke  Charles  as  Kino-  of 
Spain,  after  having  recognised  Philip  V.  The  decree  was  not  received  in 
France  ;  and  quarrels  were  suspended  until  the  death  of  Père  La  Chaise, 
an  amiable  man  with  whom  the 
and  who  protected  the  ally  of 
Madame  de  Maintenon  in  the 
person  of  the  (  Jardinai  de 
Noailles. 

The  Jesuits  were  in  a  position 
to  appoint  a  confessor  to  the 
King,  and,  indeed,  they  could  do 
the  same  in  the  case  of  almost 
all  the  Catholic  princes.  That 
prerogative  was  due  to  the  con- 
stitution of  their  society,  by 
which  they  renounce"  1  ecclesi- 
astical dignities.  This  rule, 
which  their  founder  established 
from  humility,  had  helped  them 
to  greatness.  As  Louis  XIV. 
advanced  in  years,  the  place  of 
his  confessor  assumed  more  and 
more  of  a  ministerial  character. 
The  post  was  given  to  Le  Tellier, 
who  was  the  son  of  a  magistrate 
at  Vire,  in  Lower  Normandy, 
a  gloomy,  ardent,  inflexible  man, 
who  concealed  violent  impulses 
under  a  phlegmatic  appearance. 
He   did   all    the    harm    that  he 

could  do  in  his  important  position,  where  it  was  easy  for  him  to  suggest 
his  own  wishes,  and  to  ruin  his  enemies.  lie  had  certain  personal 
injuries  to  avenge.  The  Jansenists  had  succeeded  in  getting  one  of  his 
hooks  condemned.  He  was  on  Lad  terms  with  Cardinal  de  Noailles,  and 
he  was  quite  deficient  in  tact.  He  stirred  up  the  whole  Church  of 
France,  and  in  1711  drew  up  letters  and  pastorals  which  the  bishops 
were  to  sign.     He  sent  them  accusations   against  Cardinal   de  Noailles, 


A  DESOEIPTIOM  OF  THF.  LAND  OF  JANSENISM. 

(Cabinet  "f  Prints.) 


420 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


directing  them  to  affix  their  signatures  to  those  documents.  In  profane 
matters  such  doings  are  punished  ;  these  were  discovered,  and  succeeded 
none  the  less. 

The  King's  conscience  was  alarmed  by  his  confessor,  as  keenly  as  his 
pride  of  authority  was  hurt  by  the  idea  of  a  rebellious  party.  In 
vain  did  Cardinal  de  Noailles  demand  justice  for  "  these  mysteries  of 
iniquity  :  "  the  confessor  persuaded  him  that  he  had  used  human  means 

to  ensure  the  success  of  things 
that  were  divine,  and,  as  in  fact 
he  was  defending  the  authority 
of  the  Pope  and  the  unity  of 
the  Church,  appearances  were 
favourable  to  him.  The 
Cardinal  -  Archbishop  addressed 
himself  to  the  Dauphin  (Due 
de  Bourgogne),  but  he  found 
himself  forestalled  by  the 
letters  and  the  friends  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Cambray.  Human 
weakness  has  a  place  in  every 
heart.  Fenelon  was  not  yet 
sufficiently  philosophic  to  forget 
that  Cardinal  de  Noailles  had 
contributed  to  his  condemna- 
tion ;  and  then  Quesnel  paid 
for  Madame  Guyon. 

The  Cardinal  fared  equally 
ill  with  respect  to  Madame  de 
Maintenon.  The  character  of 
that  lady  might  have  been  read  by  the  light  of  this  affair  only  :  she 
had  no  feelings  of  her  own,  and  was  exclusively  occupied  in  adapting 
herself  to  those  of  the  King.  Three  lines  written  by  her  to  Cardinal  de 
Noailles  teach  us  exactly  what  we  ought  to  think  of  her,  the  duplicity  of 
Père  Le  Tellier,  the  King's  ideas,  and  the  conjuncture.  "You  know  me 
enough  to  know  what  I  think  on  the  matter  of  the  new  discovery  ; 
but  several  reasons  must  restrain  me  from  speaking.  It  is  not  for  me 
to  judge  and  to  condemn  ;  I  have  only  to  be  silent  and  to  pray  for  the 


PERE  MICHEL  LE  TELLIEH. 
(From  a  print  by  Desrochers.) 


LE  TELLIER 


421 


Church,  for  the  King,  and  for  you.  I  have  given  your  letter  to  the 
King  ;  it  has  been  read  ;  that  is  all  I  can  say  to  you  about  it,  for  I  am 
cast  down  with  sadness.'' 

The  Cardinal- Archbishop,  being  oppressed  by  a  Jesuit,  deprived  all  the 
Jesuits,  except  a  few  of  the  most  prudent  and  moderate  among  them,  of 
faculties  to  preach  and  hear  confessions.  His  office  gave  him  the  dangerous 
right  of  preventing  Le  Tellier  from  hearing  the  King  ;  but  he  dared  not 
irritate  his  enemy  to  that 
point.  "  I  fear,"  he  wrote 
to  Madame  de  Maintenon, 
"  that  I  am  showing  too  much 
submission  to  the  King  in 
giving  faculties  to  that  person 
who  deserves  them  the  least. 
I  pray  God  to  make  him 
know  the  peril  lie  incurs  in 
entrusting  his  soul  to  a  man 
of  such  character." 

It  is  recorded  in  several 
memoirs  that  l'ère  Le  Tellier 
said  either  one  or  the  other 
of  them — the  Cardinal  and 
himself — must  lose  his  place. 
It  is  very  likely  he  thought 
this,  but  not  at  all  likely  that 
he  said  it.  When  men's 
minds  are  full  of  enmity, 
both    parties    are    certain  to 

make  mistakes.  Partisans  of  Père  Le  Tellier,  bishops  who  hoped  to  be 
made  cardinals,  employed  the  royal  authority  to  fan  the  sparks,  that  might 
have  been  extinguished,  into  flame.  Instead  of  following  the  example  of 
Rome,  which  had  imposed  silence  on  both  parties  several  times,  Louis  XIV. 
thought  fit  to  solicit  a  declaration  of  war  from  Rome  himself,  and  the 
famous  constitution,  Unigenitus,  which  embittered  the  rest  of  his  life, 
was  the  result. 

Le  Tellier  and  his  party  sent  three  hundred  propositions  to  Rome 
to  be  condemned.     The  Holy  Office  proscribed  one  hundred  and  one  of 


MADAME  DE  MAINTENON  AS  SAINT  FRANCES  OF  ROME. 
(Original  I'ortrait  by  I'ierrc  Milliard. — Musée  de  Versailles.) 


422  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

these.  The  Bull  was  issued  in  September,  1713,  and  almost  all  France 
rose  against  it.  The  King  had  asked  for  it  in  order  to  prevent  a  schism, 
and  it  was  likely  to  cause  one.  The  clamour  was  general,  because 
everybody  saw  that  some  of  the  condemned  propositions  conveyed  the 
most  innocent  meaning  and  the  purest  morality.  A  convocation  of  bishops, 
numerously  attended,  was  held  at  Paris.  Forty  of  the  prelates  accepted 
the  Bull  for  the  sake  of  peace  ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  gave  explanations 


A  SATIRICAL  COMPOSITION  BY  JANSEOTSTS  AGAINST  THE  CONSTITUTIONISTS  WHO  REMAIN  IN  THEIR 
PARTY  SOLELY  FOR  THE  SAKE  OF  TEMPORAL  GAIN  (1713). 
(Cabinet  of  Prints.) 

of  it,  to  quiet  the  scruples  of  the  public.  The  acceptation  pure  and 
simple  was  sent  to  the  Pope  ;  the  modifications  were  kept  for  the  people. 
It  was  expected  that  the  Pontiff,  the  King,  and  the  multitude  would  be 
satisfied  by  this  course  ;  but  Cardinal  de  Noailles  and  seven  other  bishops 
who  joined  him  would  have  neither  the  Bull  nor  its  corrections.  They 
wrote  to  the  Pope,  asking  for  these  corrections  from  His  Holiness  himself. 
This  was  an  affront  respectfully  offered,  and  the  King  would  not  suffer  it. 
He  prevented  the  despatch  of  the  letter,  sent  the  bishops  back  to  their 
dioceses,  and  forbade  the  Cardinal-Archbishop  to  appear  at  Court.  The 


THE  BULL 


423 


Archbishop,  being  persecuted,  became  at  once  an  object  of  increased 
respect  and  consideration  to  the  public.  Seven  other  bishops  came  over 
to  his  side.  There  was  a  division  in  the  episcopate,  in  the  cleroy,  in  the 
religious  orders.  Everybody  acknowledged  that  the  fundamental  truths  of 
religion  were  not  concerned  at  all  ;  nevertheless  there  was  a  civil  war  in 
men's  minds,  just  as  though 
the  overthrow  of  Christianity 
were  in  question,  and  on  both 
sides  political  springs  were  set 
in  motion  as  they  might  have 
been  in  the  most  mundane 
matter. 

These  springs  were  worked 
to  make  the  Sorbonne  accept 
the  constitution.  The  plurality 
of  votes  was  not  for  it,  and 
yet  it  was  registered.  Its 
opponents  were  sent  to  prison 
by  "  lettres  de  cachet,''  or 
banished,  in  large  numbers. 

(1714.)  The  Bull,  Uni- 
genitus,  had  been  registered  at 
the  parliament,  with  reserve 
of  the  ordinary  rights  of  the 
Crown,  the  liberties  of  the 
Gallican  Church,  the  power 
and  jurisdiction  of  bishops  ; 
but  the  public  voice  made 
itself  heard,  notwithstanding 
this  obedience.  Cardinal  de 
Bissy,  one  of  the  most  ardent  defenders  of  the  Bull,  admitted,  in  a  letter, 
that  even  at  Geneva  it  could  not  have  been  treated  with  more  indignity 
than  in  I  'a  ris. 

The  anger  of  the  people  was  chiefly  directed  against  Père  Le  Toi  lier. 
The  prisons  had  been  filled  for  some  time  past  with  citizens  accused  of 
Jansenism.  Louis  XIV.,  who  was  very  ignorant  in  these  matters,  was  made 
to  believe  that  it  was  the  duty  of  a  Most  Christian    King  to  persecute 


FRONTISPIECE  OF  THE  PROTEST  OF  PÈRE  QUESNEL  AGAINST 
THE  CONDEMNATION  OF  HIS  PROPOSITIONS. 

(Cabinet  of  Prints.) 


424 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


heretics,  and  that  he  could  expiate  his  sins  by  this  means  only.  The  most 
shameful  proceeding  of  all  was  that  copies  of  the  "  interrogatories,"  in  the 
cases  of  those  unfortunates,  were  sent  to  Le  Tellier.  Never  was  there 
a  mure  flagrant  betrayal  of  justice.  In  1768,  after  the  Jesuits  had  been 
expelled  by  all  the  parliaments  of  the  kingdom,  by  the  desire  of  the  people, 
and  by  an  edict  of  Louis  XIV.,  the  papers  were  found  in  their  house. 

Le  Tellier  ventured  to  presume  upon  his  credit  to  the  extent  of 
proposing  that  Cardinal  de  Noailles  should  be  deposed  by  a  national  council. 


A  SATIRICAL  COMPOSITION  BY  THE  JANSENISTS  AGAINST  THE  CONSTITUTIONISTS  WHO  ARE  KEPT  IN  THEIR 
PARTY  BY  THE  LOVE  OF  WEALTH  ONLY  (1713). 
(Cabinet  of  Prints.) 


As  a  preliminary  of  this  council,  at  which  the  deposition  of  a 
prelate  who  had  won  the  hearts  of  Paris  and  of  France,  by  the  purity 
of  his  morals  and  the  gentleness  of  his  nature,  and  still  more  because  he 
was  persecuted,  was  to  be  debated,  Louis  XIV.  was  induced  to  have  a 
declaration  registered  by  the  parliament  by  which  a  bishop  who  had  not 
accepted  the  Bull  purely  and  simply  should  be  obliged  to  subscribe  to  it, 
on  pain  of  being  prosecuted  according  to  the  canons.  Voisin,  the  Chan- 
cellor, a  hard  and  despotic  man,  had  drawn  up  this  edict.  D'Aguesseau, 
who  was  better  versed  than  Voisin  in  the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  and  then 


A    PITILESS  CONFESSOR 


425 


possessed  the  courage  of  youth,  absolutely  refused  to  take  charge 
of  the  document.  The  first  president,  De  Mesme,  pointed  out  the 
consequences  of  it  to  the  King.  The  matter  was  then  allowed  to  drag 
on  unsettled.  The  King  was  dying  ;  these  wretched  disputes  troubled  and 
hastened  the  close  of  his  life.  His  pitiless  confessor  wearied  him  in  his 
weakness  by  continual  exhortations  to  conclude  a  work  which  was  not 
likely  to  endear  his  memory 
to  his  people.  The  King's 
servants  indignantly  refused 
twice  over  to  admit  Le  Tellier  ; 
and  at  last  they  entreated  him 
not  to  speak  of  the  constitution 
to  the  King.  The  sovereign 
died,  and  everything  was  imme- 
diately change  1. 

The  Duc  d'Orléans,  Regenl 
of  the  kingdom,  began  by 
entirely  doing  away  with  the 
form  of  the  government  of 
Louis  XIV.  Having  substi- 
tuted councils  at  the  «  (trices  of 
the  Secretaries  of  State,  he 
formed  a  Council  of  Conscience, 
with  Cardinal  de  Noailles  as 
president.  Le  Tellier  was 
banished,  laden  with  obloquy 
by  the  public,  ami  little  loved 
by  his  brethren. 

The  bishops  who  opposed 
the  Bull  appealed  to  a  future  council,  though  such  a  council  might 
never  be  held.  The  Sorbonne,  the  curés  of  the  diocese  of  Paris,  and 
several  religious  communities  did  the  same;  and  finally  Cardinal  de 
Noailles  made  his  appeal  in  1717.  but  he  would  not  give  publicity  to 
it  at  first.  The  Church  of  France  was  divided  into  two  factions,  the 
"acceptors"  and  the  "refusers."  The  acceptors  were  the  five  bishops 
who  had  adhered  under  Louis  XIV.  with  the  Jesuits  and  the  Capuchins. 
The  refusers  were  fifteen  bishops  and  the  whole  country.     The  acceptants 

3  I 


CARDINAL  DUBOIS. 

(From  t he  portrait  by  lligand,  engraved  by  C.  Roy.1 


426 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


prided  themselves  on  Rome  ;  the  others  on  the  universities,  the 
parliaments,  and  the  people.  Volume  upon  volume,  letters  upon  letters 
were  printed,  and  the  opprobrious  epithets  "heretic"  and  "schismatic" 
were  freely  interchanged. 

An  Archbishop  of  Rheims  (Mailly),  who  was  strong  on  the  side  of 
Rome,  put  his  name  to  two  documents  which  the  parliament  of  Paris 
ordered  to  be  burned  by  the   public  executioner.     The  Archbishop,  on 


MONUMENT  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  FOLLY  OF  LAW'S  SYSTEM. 
(From  a  Dutch  satire  of  the  time.) 


learning  this,  had  a  Te  Deum  sung  in  thanksgiving  for  the  outrage 
inflicted  upon  him  by  schismatics.  He  was  made  a  cardinal.  A  Bishop 
of  Soissons  (Languet),  having  been  similarly  treated  by  the  parliament, 
informed  that  body  that  it  "  was  not  for  it  to  judge  him,  even  for  a 
crime  of  high  treason,"  and  was  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of  ten  thousand 
livres.  But  the  Regent  would  not  allow  him  to  pay  the  fine,  "  lest,"  he 
said,  "  the  Bishop  of  Soissons  should  also  be  made  a  Cardinal." 

The  folly  of  the  system  of  national  finance  had  more  to  do  with 


THE    REGENT'S  POLICY 


427 


restoring  peace  to  the  Church  than  is  generally  known.  The  public  rushed 
so  eagerly  into  speculation  in  shares  at  this  point,  the  bait  held  out  to 
cupidity  by  the  transactions  of  Law  was  so  ravenously  swallowed,  that 
thenceforth  those  who  talked  about  Jansenism  and  the  Bull  Unigenitus 
found  none  to  listen  to  them.  Paris  was  no  more  concerned  with  these 
things  than  with  the  war  that  was  being  waged  on  the  frontiers  of  Spain. 
The  rapid  and  incredible  for- 
tunes that  were  then  made, 
the  luxury  and  enjoyment  of 
life,  carried  to  the  greatest 
excess,  silenced  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal disputes,  and  that  which 
Louis  XIV.  had  failed  to  do, 
pleasure  accomplished. 

The  Duc  d'Orléans  availed 
himself  of  this  conjuncture  to 
re-unite  the  Church  of  France 
in  the  interests  of  his  own 
policy.  He  lived  in  dread  of 
a  time  when  he  might  have 
Rome,  Spain,  and  one  hundred 
bishops  against  him. 

The  Regent's  task  was  not 
easy.  The  first  necessity  of 
the  case  was  that  Cardinal  de 
Noailles  should  be  induced  not 
only  to  accept  the  constitution 
which  he  regarded  as  scanda- 
lous, but  to  retract  his  appeal  which  he  regarded  as  legitimate.  The 
Recent  would  have  to  obtain  from  the  Cardinal  more  than  Louis  XIV., 
his  benefactor,  had  asked  in  vain.  He  would  also  have  to  encounter 
the  strong  opposition  of  the  parliament,  which  he  had  banished  to 
Pontoise;  nevertheless  he  got  the  better  of  all  these  difficulties.  A 
"body  of  doctrine"  was  composed  which  almost  contented  both  parties. 
The  Cardinal  was  induced  to  give  his  word  that  he  would  "accept."  The 
Duc  d'Orléans  went  in  person  to  the  Great  Council  with  the  princes 
and  the   peers  to  procure    the   registration  of  an   edict  which  directed 


UAULHNAL  UK  TKNCIN. 
(Kroui  the  portrait  by  lleilmann,  engraved  by  J.  U.  W'ille.) 


428  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

acceptation  of  the  Bull,  suppression  of  the  appeals,  unanimity,  and  peace. 
The  parliament,  being  annoyed  by  the  carrying  of  declarations  which  it 
was  qualified  to  receive  to  the  Great  Council,  and  threatened  besides 
with  being  transferred  from  Pontoise  to  Blois,  registered  what  the  Grand 
Council  had  registered,  but  with  the  customary  reservations,  that  is  to 
say,  the  maintenance  of  the  liberties  of  the  Gallican  Church  and  of  the 
laws  of  the  kingdom. 


THE  TOMB  OF  BLESSED  FRANÇOIS  DE  PARIS,   DIED  1ST  MAY,   1717,   AND  ILLUSTRIOUS  FOR  UNTOLD  MIRACLES. 
(Print  in  the  Series  of  Les  Miracles  du  Diacre  Paris.) 

The  Cardinal-Archbishop,  who  had  promised  to  retract  when  the 
parliament  should  obey,  was  then  obliged  to  keep  his  word,  and  his 
pastoral  of  retractation  was  issued  on  the  20th  of  August,  1720. 

From  that  time  forth  Jansenism,  Quietism,  and  all  theological 
quarrelling  sensibly  declined  in  France.  It  is  not  necessary  to  the  illustration 
of  the  Great  Century  to  pursue  the  subject  of  Jansenism  farther,  but  the 
episode  of  the  "  Convulsionnaires  "  is  so  strange  a  feature  of  the  time  that 
it  must  find  brief  mention  here. 


THE    "  C O N  V  U  LSIO  X  N  A  11  !  E S 


429 


In  1727,  when  the  party  of  Jansenism 
was  declining  rapidly,  it  occurred  to  certain 
enthusiasts  that  a  deacon  named  l'avis,  brother 
of  a  counsellor  of  the  parliament,  who  was 
buried  in  the  cemetery  of  Saint-Medard,  might 
work  miracles.  Some  persons  belonging  to 
the  parly  went  to  pray  at  his  tomb,  and,  in 
the  excited  state  of  their  fancy,  were  seized 
with  slight  convulsions.  The  tomb  was 
immediately  surrounded  by  people  ;  presently 
a  crowd  filled  the  spot  day  and  night,  and 
extraordinary  scenes  took  place. 


The  govern- 


A  MEETING  OF  THE  JESUITS. 

(Fragment  of  an  Almanac,  engraved  by 
Lepautre.) 


LE  DIACRE  PARIS  AT  PRATER, 
(From  a  print  of  the  time.) 


ment  allowed  this  epileptic 
malady  to  run  its  course  for 
a  month,  but  the  concourse 
increased  with  the  stories  of 
sight  restored  to  the  blind, 
hearing  to  the  deaf,  and 
speech  to  the  dumb,  and, 
with  the  concourse,  the  con- 
vulsions ;  so  that  it  became 
necessary  to  close  the  ceme- 
tery and  place  a  guard  over 
it.  The  tomb  of  the  "  Diacre 
Paris  "  was.  in  fact,  also  that 


of  Jansenism,  which  was  no  longer  supported 
by  such  men  as  Arnauld,  Pascal,  and  Nicole. 

It  was  during  the  period  of  the  Regent's 
conciliatory  and  successful  efforts  to  settle 
the  great  historical  quarrel  that  two  very 
different  men  came  into  view.  One  was 
Pierre  de  Tencin,  An  h  bishop  of  Embrun, 
afterwards  Cardinal,  who  was  appointed  by 
Cardinal  Fleury  to  preside  over  a  council 
assembled  to  try  a  Jansenist  bishop  eighty  years 
old.  The  other  was  Cardinal  Dubois,  who 
succeeded  Fénelon  as  Archbishop  of  Cambra  y , 


THE  JESUITS. 

(Fragment  of  an  Almanac,  engraved  by 
Lepautre.) 


430 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


and  was  a  Prince  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  and  Prime  Minister.  It  was 
this  prelate  who  persuaded  Cardinal  de  Noailles  to  give  the  promise  which 
he  had  to  redeem  by  his  famous  retractation.  The  history  of  each  of  these 
eminent  churchmen  and  politicians  stretches  beyond  our  bounds,  but  their 
portraits  are  fitly  placed  in  this  volume. 


FAME  GLOEIFYING  LOUIS  XIV. 
(Composition  by  S.  Leclerc.} 


IV 

QUIETISM. 

MID  the  factious  disputes  of  Calvinism  and  the 
quarrels  of  Jansenism,  yet  another  division  took 
place  in  France  on  the  score  of  Quietism.  It 
was  an  unfortunate  result  of  intellectual  progress 
in  the  Century  of  Louis  XIV.  that  everyone 
strove  to  pass  the  limits  that  are  set  to  our 
human  knowledge  in  almost  all  things;  or  rather, 
it  proved  that  progress  to  be  as  yet  insufficient. 
The  controversy  concerning  Quietism  would  have  left  no  trace  in  the 
memory  of  men  but  for  the  illustrious  names  of  the  two  great  rivals  who 
were  engaged  in  it.  A  woman  of  no  importance  or  ability  had  set  the 
two  greatest  men  then  in  the  Church  by  the  ears,  by  her  extravagant 
imagination.  Her  name  was  Jeanne  Bouvier  de  la  Motte.  Her  family 
originally  came  from  Montargis.  She  had  married  a  son  of  that  Guyon 
who  engineered  the  canal  of  Briare,  and  became  a  widow  while  quite 
young.  With  a  good  fortune,  beauty,  and  a  mind  made  for  the  world 
and  society,   she  flung  herself  eagerly  into  "spirituality."     A  Barnabite 


432 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


monk,  named  Lacombe,  from  Annecy,  near  Geneva,  was  her  director, 
and  this  man,  who  died  insane,  encouraged  his  penitent  in  the  mystic 
reveries  to  which  she  was  inclined.  Her  strong  desire  to  he  a  Saint 
Teresa  in  France  prevented  her  from  seeing  how  widely  French  genius 
differs  from  Spanish  genius,  and  made  her  go  much  farther  than  Saint 

Teresa.  Ambition  to  make  dis- 
ciples, perhaps  the  strongest  of 
all  ambitions,  laid  hold  of  her. 

Lacombe  took  her  to  his 
native  place,  Annecy,  in  Savoy, 
where  the  titular  Bishop  of 
Geneva  resides.  The  young- 
widow  acquired  some  influence 
at  Annecy  by  her  profuse  alms- 
giving. She  held  conferences  ; 
she  preached  the  entire  renun- 
ciation of  self,  the  silence  of 
the  soul,  the  suppression  of  all 
its  powers,  inward  worship,  and 
the  pure  and  disinterested  love 
that  is  neither  debased  by  fear 
nor  animated  by  the  hope  of 
reward. 

The  tender  and  vivid 
imaginations  of  some  women 
and  some  young  monks  were 
fired  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Word  of  God  by  a  young  and 
fair  woman,  and  they  were 
fascinated  by  her  eloquence. 
She  persuaded  the  more  or  less 
predisposed  among  her  hearers,  and  made  proselytes.  The  Bishop  of  Annecy 
procured  the  expulsion  of  Madame  Guyon  and  her  director  from  Annecy. 
They  went  to  Grenoble  ;  there  she  distributed  a  little  book  entitled  "  Le 
Moyen  Court,"  and  a  second  under  the  name  of  "Les  Torrents,"  written 
in  the  fervid  style  of  her  discourses,  and  was  shortly  obliged  to  leave 
the  place. 


MADAME  GUYON  AT  THE  AGE  OF  FORTY-FOUR  YEARS. 
(From  the  print  by  V.  Iiroen.) 


MADAME  (1UYON 


433 


She  now  flattered  herself  that  she  ranked  among  confessors,  had  a 
vision,  and  prophesied.  She  sent  her  prophecy  to  Père  Lacombe.  "  All 
hell,"  she  said,  "  will  band  itself  together  to  hinder  the  progress  of  the 
interior  life  and  the  formation  of  Jesus  Christ  in  souls.  The  storm  will 
be  such  that  no  stone  shall  rest  upon  another,  and  it  seems  to  me  that 
in  all  the  earth  there  shall  be  trouble,  war,  and  overturning.  The  woman 
shall  be  pregnant  by  the  interior  spirit,  and  the  dragon  shall  uprear 
himself  before  her." 

The  prophecy  came  true  in 
part  ;  hell  did  not  band  itself 
together  ;  but  she  and  her 
director  returned  to  Paris,  and 
both  of  them  having  preached 
dogmatically  in  1687,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris  (Harlay  do 
Chanvallon)  obtained  an  order 
from  the  King  to  have  Lacombe 
imprisoned  as  a  deceiver,  and 
Madame  Guy  on  placed  in  a 
convent  as  a  person  of  unsound 
mind  who  needed  cure.  But 
before  this  befell  her  Madame 
Guyon  had  secured  certain  use- 
ful patronage.  In  the  newly- 
established  convent-school  of 
Saint-Cyr  she  had  a  cousin, 
Madame  de  La  Maisonfort,  who 
was  a  favourite  of  Madame  de 
Maintenon  ;  she  had  also  insinuated  herself  into  the  confidence  of  the 
Duchesse  de  Chevreuse  and  the  Duchesse  de  Bcauvilliers.  All  her  friends 
complained  loudly  that  Archbishop  du  Harlay  should  persecute  a  woman 
who  preached  the  love  of  God  only. 

The  all-powerful  influence  of  Madame  de  Maintenon  imposed  silence 
on  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  and  restored  Madame  Guyon  to  liberty.  She 
went  to  Versailles,  introduced  herself  at  Saint-Cyr,  and  attended  the 
"conferences"  given  by  the  Abbé  de  Fénelon,  after  having  dined  en  tiers 
with  him  and   Madame    de  Maintenon.     The   Princesse  d'Harcourt,  the 


434  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

Duchesse  de  Chevreuse,  the  Duchesse  de  Beauvilliers,  and  the  Duchesse 
de  Gharost  had  the  privilege  of  attending  the  "  conférences." 

The  Abbé  de  Fénelon,  tutor  to  the  Children  of  France,  was  the  most 
fascinating  man  at  Court.  He  possessed  a  tender  heart,  brilliant  and 
graceful  imagination,  and  a  mind  fed  with  the  "  fine  flower  "  of  elegant 
literature.  His  tastes  were  refined  and  gracious  ;  he  preferred  the  sublime 
and  the  touching  in  theology  to  the  sombre  and  the  difficult.  With  all 
this,  something  romantic  in  him  inspired  him,  not  with  the  mysticism  of 
Madame  Guyon,  but  with  an  inclination  to  spirituality  according  to  her  ideas. 

His  imagination  was  inflamed  by  innocence  and  virtue,  as  others  are 
inflamed  by  their  passions.  His  passion  was  the  love  of  God  for  Himself. 
In  Madame  Guyon  he  beheld  a  pure  soul  filled  with  a  similar  aspiration, 
and  he  became  her  friend  without  scruple.  It  was  strange  that  he 
should  have  been  attracted  by  a  woman  of  revelations,  prophecies,  and 
such-like  ineptitudes,  who  was  so  "  suffocated  with  interior  grace  "  that  she 
had  to  be  unlaced,  and  who  could  "empty  herself"  (so  she  declared)  of  the 
superabundance  of  grace  and  make  it  swell  the  body  of  the  elect  person 
seated  by  her  side.  But  Fénelon,  with  his  mystic  ideas,  overlooked  all 
this,  and  dwelt  only  on  the  conformity  of  the  sentiments  that  had  so 
charmed  him  with  his  own. 

Madame  Guyon,  sure  and  proud  of  her  disciple,  whom  she  called 
her  son,  and  reckoning  even  on  Madame  de  Maintenon,  spread  her  ideas 
through  Saint-Cyr.  Godet,  Bishop  of  Chartres,  in  whose  diocese  Saint- 
Cyr  is  situated,  took  alarm  at  this  and  complained.  The  Archbishop  of 
Paris  threatened  to  renew  his  former  proceedings. 

Madame  de  Maintenon,  whose  only  desire  was  to  make  Saint-Cyr  an 
abode  of  peace,  who  knew  how  much  the  King  disliked  any  novelty,  and 
did  not  require  to  put  herself  at  the  head  of  a  sect  in  order  to  obtain 
consideration  ;  who  was,  in  short,  solely  concerned  for  her  own  interests, 
and  her  own  repose,  broke  off  all  intercourse  with  Madame  Guyon,  and 
forbade  her  to  come  to  Saint-Cyr. 

The  Abbé  de  Fénelon  saw  that  a  storm  was  brewing,  and  was  afraid 
of  losing  the  high  preferment  to  which  he  aspired.  He  advised  his  friend 
to  put  herself  into  the  hands  of  the  celebrated  Bossuet,  Bishop  of  Meaux, 
who  was  regarded  as  a  Father  of  the  Church.  She  submitted  herself  to 
the  direction  of  the  great  prelate,  received  Holy  Communion  from  his 
hand,  and  gave  him  all  her  writings  to  examine. 


BOSSUET 


435 


The  Bishop  of  Meaux,  with  the  cousent  of  the  King,  selected  the 
Bishop  of  Châlons  (afterwards  Cardinal  de  Noailles)  and  the  Abbé  Tronson, 
Superior  of  Saint-Sulpice,  as  his  associates  in  this  examination.  They  met 
secretly  at  the  village  of  Issy,  near  Paris.  The  Archbishop  of  Paris, 
who  was  displeased  that  others  should  act  as  judges  in  his  diocese,  had  a 
public  censure  of  the  books 
under  examination  posted  up. 
Madame  Guy  on  retired  to  the 
city  of  Meaux  itself,  consented 
to  everything  that  Bossuet 
wished,  and  promised  to  dog- 
matise no  more. 

In  the  meantime  Fénelon 
had  been  appointed  to  the  Arch- 
bishopric of  Cambray  (in  1695), 
and  consecrated  by  the  Bishop 
of  Meaux.  It  seemed  most  un- 
likely that  a  slumbering  scandal, 
which  had  hitherto  been  simply 
and  solely  ridiculous,  should 
ever  be  roused  up  again. 

But  Madame  Guyon,  being 
accused  of  continuing  to  preach 
dogmatically  after  she  had 
promised  to  be  silent,  was  re- 
moved from  Meaux  by  order  of 
the  King  in  that  same  year 
(1G95)  and  imprisoned  at  Vin- 
cennes,  as  though  she  had  been  a  person  dangerous  in  the  State.  This 
she  could  not  be,  and  her  pious  musings  were  not  worth  the  sovereign's 
attention.  At  Vincennes  she  composed  a  big  volume  of  mystic  verses 
worse  than  her  prose;  she  even  parodied  the  rhymes  of  the  librettos  of 
operas.    She  frequently  sang,  for  instance  :— 

L'iimour  pur  et  parfait  va  plus  loin  (pi  on  ne  pense  ; 

On  ne  sait  pas,  lorsqu'il  commence, 

Tout  ce  qu'il  doit  coûter  un  jour. 
Mon  cœur  n'aurait  connu  Vincennes  ni  souffrance, 

S'il  n'eût  connu  le  pur  amour. 


GODET  DUS  MAHAIS,   BISHOP  OF  CHARTRES. 
(I'roiu  tlic  portrait  by  Paul  Iîria,  engraved  by  Crespy.) 


436 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


Bossuet,  who  had  regarded  himself  for  a  long  time  as  the  father  and 
teacher  of  Fénelon,  had  become  jealous  of  the  reputation  of  his  disciple, 
and  being  desirous  of  keeping  up  his  ascendency  over  all  his  fellows,  he 
required  the  new  Archbishop  of  Cambray  to  join  him  in  condemning 
Madame  Guyon  and  to  endorse  his  pastoral  instructions.  Fénelon  would  not 
sacrifice  either  his  sentiments  or  his  friend.  The  Archbishop  of  Cambray, 
on  leaving  Meaux  for  his  own  diocese,  sent  "  Les  Maximes  des  Saints  " 

to  Paris  to  be  printed.  By  this 
work  he  intended  to  rectify  all 
that  his  friend  was  reproached 
with,  and  to  develop  the  ortho- 
dox ideas  of  pious  contempla- 
tives who  elevate  themselves 
above  the  senses,  and  aim  at 
a  state  of  perfection  to  which 
ordinary  souls  do  not  aspire. 
The  Bishop  of  Meaux  and  his 
friends  opposed  the  book  and 
denounced  it  to  the  King. 
The  King  questioned  Bossuet, 
whose  talent  and  reputation  he 
respected,  and  Bossuet  begged 
the  King's  forgiveness  for  not 
having  warned  him  earlier  of 
the  fatal  heresy  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Cambray. 

The  King  and  Madame  de 


F.  DE  HARLAY  DE  CHAN  VALLON,  ARCHBISHOP  OF  PARIS. 
(From  a  portrait  by  Lenfunt,  1G71.) 


Maintenon  immediately  con- 
sulted Père  de  La  Chaise,  who  replied  that  the  Archbishop's  book  was 
very  good,  that  all  the  Jesuits  were  edified  by  it,  and  that  only  the 
Jansenists  disapproved  of  it.  The  Bishop  of  Meaux  was  not  a  Jansenist, 
but  he  was  deeply  read  in  their  best  writings.  The  Jesuits  did  not  like 
him,  and  he  did  not  like  them. 

The  Court  and  the  Town  were  divided,  and  the  turning  of  all  attention 
to  this  vexed  question  allowed  the  Jansenists  to  breathe.  Bossuet  wrote 
against  Fénelon.  Both  writers  sent  their  works  to  the  Pope,  Innocent  XII., 
and  left  them  to  his  decision.    The  circumstances  did  not  seem  favourable 


MICHEL  MOLINOS 


437 


to  Fenelon  :  Quietism,  of  which  the  Archbishop  of  Cambray  was  accused, 
had  recently  been  severely  condemned  in  the  person  of  the  Spaniard 
Molinos.  It  was  Cardinal  d'Estrées,  the  French  Ambassador  to  Rome,  who 
had  prosecuted  Molinos  to  please  the  enemies  of  that  unfortunate  priest. 
He  had  even  induced  the  King  to  solicit  his  condemnation  at  Rome  ;  and 
this  was  easily  obtained  ;  so  that  Louis  XIV.  found  himself,  without 
knowing  it,  the  most  formidable  enemy  of  the  "  Pure  Love  "  of  the  Mystics. 

Nothing  is  more  easy  in  these  delicate  matters  than  to  find  passages 
in  a  book  on  its  trial  resembling 
those  in  a  book  already  pro- 
scribed. The  Archbishop  of 
Cambray  had  for  him  the  Jesuits, 
the  Duc  de  Beauvilliers,  the  Due 
de  Chevreuse,  and  Cardinal  de 
Bouillon,  the  recently-appointed 
Ambassador  of  Fiance  to  Rome. 
The  Bishop  of  Meaux  had  his 
great  name  and  the  adhesion  of 
the  principal  prelates  of  France. 
He  brought  the,  signatures  of 
several  bishops  and  a  great 
number  of  doctors,  who  all 
declared  against  "  Les  Maximes 
des  Saints." 

Such  was  the  authority  of 
Bossuet  that  Père  de  La  Chaise 
did  not  venture  to  support  the 
Archbishop   of   Cambray  with 

the  King,  his  penitent,  and  Madame  de  Main  tenon  absolutely  forsook  her 
friend.  The  King  wrote  to  the  Pope  that  the  book  written  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Cambray  had  been  brought  before  him  as  a  pernicious 
work,  that  he  had  caused  it  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Nuncio,  and 
that  he  urged  His  Holiness  to  give  judgment. 

It  was  alleged,  indeed  publicly  said  at  Rome,  and  the  rumour  still 
has  supporters,  that  the  Archbishop  was  persecuted  thus  only  because  he 
had  opposed  the  declaration  of  the  private  marriage  of  the  King  and 
Madame  de  Maintenon.    The  inventors  of  anecdotes  asserted  that  Madame 


MK  Mi  l.  MOI.IXOS  AND  HIS  WOHKS  AT  THE  STAKE. 
(From  a  popular  print  of  the  time.) 


438 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


de  Maintenon  had  urged  Père  de  La  Chaise  to  press  the  King  to 
acknowledge  her  as  Queen  :  that  the  Jesuit  had  adroitly  transferred  the 
hazardous  commission  to  Fénelon,  and  that  the  tutor  of  the  Children  of 
France,  preferring  the  honour  of  France  and  of  his  disciples  to  his  own 
fortune,  had  knelt  to  the  King  beseeching  him  to  abstain  from  a  step 
which  would  do  him  greater  harm  with  posterity  than  it  would  bring 
him  happiness  during  his  life. 

It   is   very  true  that,  as   Fénelon   had   continued  to  conduct  the 


DiTr  $'ir?.'T.  ctu  riuKcti>A:  \r$  fCT  pores 


MADAME  GU YON  WITH  THE  FEATURES  OF  THE  VIRGIN,    "TO  WHOM  GOD  HIMSELF  IS  SUBJECT." 

(Composition  by  .S.  Leclerc.) 

education  of  the  Duc  de  Bourgogne  after  he  became  Archbishop  of  Cambray, 
some  idle  talk  about  his  spiritual  relations  with  Madame  Guyon  and 
Madame  de  La  Maisonfort  had  reached  the  King,  who  also  believed  that 
Fénelon  was  inspiring  the  Duc  de  Bourgogne  with  austere  maxims,  and 
with  principles  of  government  and  morals,  which  might  become  an  indirect 
censure  in  the  future  upon  the  grandeur,  the  thirst  for  fame,  the  wars  so 
lightly  undertaken,  and  the  love  of  fêtes  and  pleasure  which  had  charac- 
terized the  reign  of  the  prince's  grandfather.  Louis  XIV.  wished  to  have  a 
conversation  with  the  new  Archbishop  on  his  political  principles.  Fénelon, 
full  of  his  own  ideas,  allowed  the  King  to  detect  a  little  of  the  spirit 


FÉNELON    AND    THE  KING 


439 


which  was  afterwards  revealed  in  "  Télémaque,"  in  passages  dealing 
with  government,  which  contain  maxims  more  appropriate  to  the  Republic 
of  Plato  than  to  the  method  of  ruling  men.  After  this  conversation  the 
King  said  that  he  had  been  talking  with  the  man  of  finest  and  flightiest 
wit  in  all  his  kingdom.  The  Duc  de  Bourgogne  was  informed  of  this 
saying  of  the  King's.  He  repeated  it  some  time  after  to  M.  de  Malezieu, 
who  taught  him  geometry.  This  I  have  from  M.  de  Malezieu  himself! 
and  also  from  Cardinal  de  Fleury. 


THE  GOLDEN  AGE  GOME  BACK  To  EARTH,   UNDER  THU  INFLUENCE  OK  THE  DUC  DE  BOURGOGNE, 
THE  SHEPHERD  DE  THE   PEOPLE,  AND  MADAME  GUYON,   A  NEW  INCARNATION  OF  THE  VIRGIN. 

(From  n  print  by  S.  Leclerc  and  F.  Silvestre.) 

After  that  conversation  the  King  was  ready  to  believe  that  Fcnelon 
was  as  romantic  in  matters  of  religion  as  he  was  in  politics. 

It  is  certain  that  Louis  XIV.  was  personally  annoyed  with  the 
Archbishop  of  Cambray.  Godet  des  Marais,  Bishop  of  Chartres,  influenced 
the  King  against  him,  and  the  King  actually  made  this  ridiculous 
matter,  which  he  did  not  understand  at  all,  his  particular  business.  No 
doubt  he  was  very  glad  to  have  done  with  it  when  shortly  afterwards  it 
collapsed  of  itself;  but  it  made  such  a  noise  at  Court  that  he  became 
more  afraid  of  a  cabal  than  a  heresy.  This  was  the  real  origin  of  the 
persecution  of  Fénelon. 


440  THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 

The  King  by  his  letters  of  the  month  of  August,  1697,  commanded 
Cardinal  de  Bouillon,  then  his  Ambassador  at  Rome,  to  solicit  the  con- 
demnation of  a  man  who  was  to  be  made  out  a  heretic  if  possible. 
He  wrote  with  his  own  hand  to  Pope  Innocent  III.,  pressing  him  to 
decide.  The  congregation  of  the  Holy  Office  named  a  Dominican,  a  Jesuit, 
a  Benedictine,  a  Franciscan,  a  Feuillant,  and  an  Augustine  to  prepare  the 
statement  of  the  case.    These  were  called  in  Rome  the  consulters. 

The  consulters  examined,  in  thirty-seven  conferences,  thirty-seven 
propositions,  and  pronounced  them  erroneous.  The  Pope,  at  the  head  of 
a  congregation  of  cardinals,  condemned  them  by  a  brief,  which  was 
published  and  posted  up  in  Rome  on  the  13th  March,  1699. 

The  Bishop  of  Meaux  triumphed,  but  the  Archbishop  of  Cambray 
extracted  a  finer  triumph  from  his  defeat.  He  made  submission  without 
restriction  and  without  reserve.  He  condemned  his  own  book  from  his 
own  pulpit  at  Cambray.  He  prevented  his  friends  from  defending  him. 
This  unique  example  of  the  docility  of  a  savant  who  might  have  made 
a  great  party  for  himself  out  of  persecution,  this  act  of  either  simplicity 
or  high  art  won  all  hearts  for  him,  and  made  the  victor  almost  hated. 
Fénelon  lived  thenceforth  in  his  diocese,  as  a  wise  and  worthy  prelate 
and  a  man  of  letters.  Persecution  and  his  "  Télémaque  "  procured  for  him 
the  veneration  of  all  Europe.  The  English,  who  were  making  war  in  his 
diocese,  were  eager  to  give  testimony  of  their  respect  for  him.  The  Duke 
of  Marlborough  took  care  that  the  Archbishop's  lands  were  not  molested. 
He  was  always  dear  to  the  Duc  de  Bourgogne  (the  Dauphin),  whom  he 
had  brought  up,  and  he  would  have  had  a  share  in  the  government  had 
that  prince  lived. 

Even  in  his  philosophic  and  honourable  retirement  he  still  felt  that 
it  was  very  hard  to  leave  such  a  Court  as  that  of  Louis  XIV.  :  there 
are  other  Courts  which  several  celebrated  men  have  quitted  without 
regret. 

He  always  spoke  of  the  Court  with  liking,  and  his  interest  in  it  showed 
through  his  resignation.  Much  writing  on  philosophy,  theology,  and  belles- 
lettres  was  the  fruit  of  his  retirement.  The  Duc  d'Orléans,  afterwards 
Regent  of  France,  consulted  him  on  some  difficult  points  which  concern 
all  men,  but  which  few  men  consider.  He  asked  whether  the  existence 
of  a  God  could  be  demonstrated,  whether  that  God  desires  worship,  what 
is  the  kind  of  worship  He  approves,  and  whether  He  can  be  offended  by 


FÉNELON    AND    THE  REGENT 


441 


an  erroneous  choice.  The  prince  put  many  questions  of  this  kind,  as  a 
philosopher  seeking  instruction  ;  the  Archbishop  answered  as  a  philosopher 
and  theologian. 

It  would  have  been  better  had  he  refrained  from  mixing  himself  up 
with  the  quarrels  of  Jansenism  after  his  defeat;  but  he  did  not 
refrain.  Cardinal  dc  Noailles  had  taken  the  side  of  the  strongest  against 
him:  the  Archbishop  of  Cambray  treated  the  Cardinal  in  the  same  way. 
He  hoped  to  be  recalled  to 
Court  and  consulted  there:  so 
lia rd  is  it  for  the  human  mind 
to  detach  itself  from  affairs 
when  once  they  have  fed  its 
natural  restlessness.  His  desires 
were  however  moderate,  like  his 
writings,  and  towards  the  end 
of  bis  days  he  came  to  despise 
all  disputes.  The  Archbishop 
of  Cambray  (who  would  believe 
it!)  made  the  following  parody 
on  an  air  by  Lulli  : 

Jeune,  j'étais  trop  sage. 
Et  voulais  trop  savoir  : 
Je  ne  veux  en  partage 

Que  badinage, 
Et  touche  au  dernier  Age 

Sans  rien  prévoir. 

He  wrote  these  lines  in 
the  presence  of  his  nephew, 
the  Marquis  de  Fénelon,  after- 
wards ambassador  at  the  Hague.  J  got  them  from  him.  I  pledge  myself 
to  the  authenticity  of  this  fact,  which  would  be  of  little  importance  did 
it  not  prove  how  very  differently  we  regard,  in  the  sad  tranquillity 
of  old  age,  that  which  seemed  so  great  and  so  interesting  at  the 
period  when  the  more  active  mind  is  the  plaything  of  its  desires  and  its 
illusions. 

The  disputes  on  which  the  attention  of  France  was  fixed  for  so 
long  have  vanished  in  the  track  of  many  others  born  of  idleness.  We 

3  L 


A  SAINT  AND  A  MYSTIC  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(Mailame  Helyot.) 


442 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


are  astonished  now  that  they  should  have  produced  so  much  animosity. 
The  philosophic  spirit,  which  gains  ground  day  by  day,  tends  to  secure 
public  tranquillity  ;  and  the  very  fanatics  who  rise  up  against  the 
philosophers  owe  to  them  that  peace  which  they  enjoy  and  are  seeking 
to  destroy. 

The  question  of  Quietism,  which  was  so  unhappily  important  under 
Louis  XIV.,  and  is  now  forgotten,  ruined  Cardinal  de  Bouillon  with  the 

Court.  He  was  the  nephew 
of  the  celebrated  Turenne,  to 
whom  the  King  had  owed  his 
safety  in  the  Civil  War,  and 
afterwards  the  aggrandisement 
of  his  kingdom. 

The  tie  of  friendship  bound 
him  to  the  Archbishop  of  Cam- 
bray  ;  the  commands  of  the 
King  obliged  him  to  act  against 
him  ;  he  endeavoured  to  recon- 
cile these  two  duties.  It  is 
clear  from  his  letters  that,  while 
he  remained  faithful  to  his 
friend,  he  never  betrayed  his 
charge.  He  urged  on  the 
Pope's  sentence,  it  is  true,  ac- 
cording to  the  orders  of  his 
Court  ;  but  at  the  same  time 
he  endeavoured  to  bring  both 
parties  to  a  reconciliation. 
An  Italian,  named  Giori,  who  was  a  spy  of  the  opposing  faction, 
told  off  to  watch  the  Cardinal,  got  into  his  confidence  and  calumniated 
him  in  his  letters  ;  then  pushing  perfidy  to  the  uttermost,  he  asked  him 
for  a  gift  of  one  thousand  crowns.  The  Cardinal  gave  him  the  money, 
and  never  saw  him  more. 

The  letters  of  this  wretch  ruined  Cardinal  de  Bouillon.  The  King 
overwhelmed  him  with  reproaches  as  though  he  had  betrayed  the  State. 
Nevertheless,  it  appears  from  all  his  despatches  that  he  had  conducted 
himself  with  equal  wisdom  and  dignity. 


ABBÉ  THÉODORE,  OP  TOUR  D' AUVERGNE,  DUC  d'aLBRET. 

(Cardinal  Bouillon  in  his  youth,  after  the  portrait 
from  life  by  .Nanteuil.) 


CARDINAL    DE  BOUILLON 


443 


-    y  di>*~MM  VfJ//rU*7  ^Mfrâi)  7n 


■fut*.  


He  obeyed  the  King's  command  by  demanding  the  condemnation  of 
some  piously  absurd  maxims  of  the  mystics,  who  are  the  alchemists  of 
religion,  but  he  was  faithful  to  friendship  by  warding  off"  the  blows  that 
were  aimed  at  Fénelon  in  person.    The  King,  however,  wanted  to  have 
Fénelon  condemned  ;  whether  from  spite  against  him,  which  seems  beneath 
a   great  Kino-    or   from  sub- 
jection  to  the  opposite  party, 
which  would  still  less  become 
the  dignity  of  the  throne.  On 
the    IGth  of  March,  1G(J9,  he 
wrote  a  letter  of  very  morti- 
fying reproach  to  Cardinal  de 
Bouillon.     In   that  letter  he 
states  that  he  desires  the  con- 
demnation of  the  Archbishop  of 
Cambra  y  ;  it  is  the  letter  of  an 
aggrieved  man.    "  Télémaque  " 
was  making   a   great  stir  in 
Europe   just   then,  and  "Les 
Maximes    des    Saints,"  which 
he  had  not  read,  were  punished 
on    account    of    the  maxims 
sown  broadcast  in  "  Télémaque," 
which  he  had  read. 

Cardinal  de  Bouillon  was 
immediately  recalled.  He  set 
out  on  his  journey,  but  having 
learned,  when  only  a  few  miles 
from  Rome,  that  the  senior 
Cardinal  {doyen)  was  dead,  he 

was  obliged  to  return  in  order  to  take  possession  of  the  decanal  dignity. 
It  belonged  to  him  of  right,  as,  although  a  young  man,  he  was  the 
senior  cardinal.  It  was  no  offence  to  the  King  that  he  should  assume 
his  right,  and  then  set  out  immediately;  nevertheless,  his  doing  this  was 
regarded  as  an  irretrievable  offence.  The  Cardinal  was  exiled  on  his 
arrival  in  France,  and  his  banishment  lasted  ten  whole  years.  At  length, 
weary  of  his  prolonged  disfavour,  he  resolved  to  leave  France  for  ever, 


"  9*Jliy&>tyrv*''lJ-  e^>^>  i4^rdw  ^itpJu. 


FACSIMILE  OF  THF  LETTER  OF  RESIGNATION  OF  CARDINAL 
DE  BOUILLON  TO  THE  KING, 
the  Cotte  Collection.— Cabinet  of  Prints.) 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


in  1710,  when  Louis  XIV.  seemed  to  be  overwhelmed  by  the  allies,  and 
the  kingdom  was  threatened  on  all  sides. 

Prince  Eugene  and  the  Prince  d'Auvergne,  his  relatives,  received  him 
on  the  frontier  of  Flanders,  where  they  were  victorious.  He  returned  the 
Cross  of  the  Order  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  King,  with  his  resignation  of 
the  office  of  Grand  Almoner  of  France,  and  wrote  to  him  in  these  words  : 
"  I  resume  the  liberty  which  is  mine  by  my  birth  as  a  foreign  prince, 
son  of  a  sovereign,  independent  of  all  but  God,  and  my  dignity  of 
Cardinal  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church  and  dean  of  the  Sacred  College.  .  .  I 
shall  endeavour  to  labour  for  the  rest  of  my  days  to  serve  God,  and  the 
Church  in  the  first  place  after  the  supreme." 

His  claim  to  be  an  independent  prince  was  well  founded,  not  only  on 
the  axiom  of  several  jurists  who  maintain  that  "  whoso  renounces  all  is 
no  longer  bound  to  anything,"  and  that  every  man  is  free  to  choose  his 
place  of  abode,  but  upon  the  fact  that  he  was  born  at  Sedan  during  the 
time  that  his  father  was  still  sovereign  there.  He  regarded  his  status 
as  an  independent  prince  as  immutable  ;  and,  as  regarded  the  title  of 
cardinal-dean,  he  was  justified  by  the  example  of  all  his  predecessors, 
who  have  always  had  precedence  of  kings  at  the  ceremonies  in  Rome. 

The  Court  and  the  parliament  of  Paris  acted  on  entirely  different 
rules.  D'Aguesseau,  the  procurator-general,  afterwards  chancellor,  indicted 
the  Cardinal  before  the  assembled  Courts.  The  issuing  of  a  decree  for 
the  arrest  of  his  person  and  the  confiscation  of  all  his  property  was  the 
result.  He  lived  in  Rome  in  poor  circumstances,  and  died  there,  a  victim 
to  Quietism,  which  he  despised,  and  to  friendship,  which  he  had  nobly 
reconciled  with  his  duty. 

It  must  be  mentioned  here  that,  when  he  left  the  Low  Countries 
for  Rome,  the  French  Court  feared  he  might  be  elected  to  the  papal 
throne.  I  have  in  my  hands  the  King's  letter  to  La  Trémouille,  written 
on  the  26th  of  May,  1710,  in  which  he  expresses  apprehension  on  this 
point.  "  Everything  may  be  presumed,"  he  says,  "  of  a  subject  who 
holds  the  opinion  that  he  is  independent  of  all  but  himself.  Only  let  the 
place  which  now  fills  Cardinal  de  Bouillon  with  pride  appear  to  him 
inferior  to  his  birth  and  his  talents,  and  he  will  think  any  means 
allowable  by  which  he  may  reach  the  first  place  in  the  Church  once  he 
has  had  a  closer  view  of  its  splendour." 

The  decree  against  Cardinal  de  Bouillon,  and  the  order  to  put  him 


CARDINAL    DE  BOUILLON 


1 1:> 


into  the  'prison  of  the  Conciergerie  if  he  could  be  taken,  were  then  the 
results  of  fear  lest  he  should  ascend  a  throne  which  all  Catholics  regard 
as  the  greatest  in  the  world,  and  that,  by  joining  with  the  enemies 
of  Louis  XIV.,  he  might  avenge  himself  even  more  thoroughly 
than  Prince  Eugene  had  avenged  him.  The  armed  forces  of  the  Church 
could  indeed  do  nothing  of  themselves,  hut  they  could  do  much  with  the 
aid  of  those  of  Austria. 

+ 

Voltaire    connects   the   history  of   the    differences    of   Cardinal  de 


CARDINAL  DE  BOUILLON  BETWEEN  CHAUITY  AND  TRUTH. 
(Composition  by  Vernansal,  cngraveil  by  Thomassln.) 

Bouillon  with  Louis  XIV.  with  the  quarrel  concerning  Quietism.  It  is 
certain  that  the  Cardinal-Ambassador  of  France  to  the  Court  of  Rome 
had  not  obeyed  the  King,  or  striven  hard  to  secure  the  condemnation 
of  Fénelon  enough  to  please  him  :  this  was  an  act  of  insubordination 
added  to  several  others  which  had  already  incurred  the  anger  of 
Louis  XIV.  The  Cardinal  was,  so  to  speak,  an  improvised  priest;  he  was 
one  of  the  "grand  seigneurs"  of  the  Fronde  who  mistook  their  epoch, 
and  availed  themselves  of  the  end  of  the  reign  to  renew  the  discord 
and  disobedience  of  its  beginning.  His  exile  was  rather  a  political  penalty 
than  a  religious  condemnation. 


446 


THE    CENTURY    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


It  may  indeed  be  said,  in  conclusion,  that  the  severity  with  which 
Louis  XIV.  treated  his  subjects  in  matters  of  conscience  was  frequently 
due  to  political  motives.  His  desire — nay,  his  firm  resolution — never  to 
permit  the  repetition  of  the  troubles  of  the  Fronde,  and  the  idea  of  his 
ministers  that  the  internal  unity  of  his  kingdom  could  be  secured  by 
unity  of  faith,  partly  explain,  although  they  cannot  justify,  the  persecution 
to  which  the  Protestants  and  the  Jansenists  alike  were  subjected.  Lex  una 
sub  una  was  the  motto  of  the  reign  and  the  formula  of  the  century. 


"LEX  UNA  SUB  UNO. 
(Design  by  Leclerc.) 


FRAGMENT  OF  A  PIER-GLASS  IN  THK  KING'S  CHAMBER. 
(Chfiteau  de  Fontainebleau.) 


Alphabetical 

AND 

Index 


List 


Alphabetical  List 


PRINCIPAL    PAINTERS,   SCULPTORS,   ENGRAVERS,  ARCHITECTS, 
MEDAL    ENGRAVERS,    DRAUGHTSMEN,    AND  CARVERS 
OF    OBJECTS    OF  ART 

WHOSE    VVOHKS    AKE    REPRODUCED    IN    THIS  VOLUME. 


PAINTERS 


PAGE 

Allecïrain  (Etienne),  1645-17:50,  born 
at  Piii-is,  Member  of  the  Academy. 
View  of  Saint-Cloud  (Versailles) 
(engraving  on  copper)  facing  page  248 

Allou  (G.),  1670-1751,  Member  of 
the  Academy,  1711. 

Antoine  Coysevox      .        .        .  329 

Bouudon  (Séb.),  1616-1671,  born  at 
Montpellier. 

Portrait  of  Fouquet  (Versailles)  .  '-'>2 
Portrait  of  Descartes  (Louvre)    .  284 

Bria  (Paul). 

Portrait  of  Godet  of  Marais       .  435 

Champagne  (Ph.  de),  1602-1674,  born 
at  Brussels. 

Portrait  of  Anne  of  Austria  .  9 
The  Aldermen  of  Paris  (Louvre).  325 
Portrait  of  Saint-Cyran  (Versailles)  405 

Christophe  (Joseph),  1664-1748,  born 
at  Verdun,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1702. 

Baptism    of   the    Dauphin  (Ver- 
sailles) .        .        .        .  .85 


Corneille  (Michel),  called  the  Elder, 
1663-1708,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1708. 

Philippe,  Duc  d'Orléans,  the  Re- 
gent (Versailles)  (engraving  on 
copper)  .        .        .  facing  page  422 

Coypél  (Noël),  1628-1707,  born  at 
Paris,  painter  and  engraver. 

Voisin  between  Death  and  the 
Devil    .       .       .       .  -129 

Dahl  (Michel),  1656-1743,  born  at 
Stockholm. 

Portrait  of  Addison    .         .         .  339 

Delamonce  (Ferdinand),  1640-1690, 
born  at  Paris. 

The  Court  in  the  Arc  de  Triomphe 
Grove,  Park  of  Versailles .        .  55 

Delutel. 

The  Grand  Dauphin  and  his 
family  .        .        •        •  .155 

Dieu  (Antoine),  1662-1727,  Member 
of  the  Academy,  1722. 

Louis  Auguste  de  Bourbon,  Duc 
du  Maine  116 

3  M 


450  ALPHABETICAL    LIST  OF 

PAGE 

Ferdinand  (Louis),  1648-1717,  born 
at  Paris,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1681. 

Madame  de  Maintenon  and  her 
niece,  Mademoiselle  d'Aubigné  .  153 

Halle  (Noël),  1711-1781. 

Gold  perfume-burner,  after  the 
picture  "  La  Reception  du  Doge 
de  Gênes"     .        .        .  .75 

Heilmann,  1718-1760,  born  at  Mul- 
house. 

Cardinal  de  Tencin    .         .  .427 

Haye  (de  la). 

Louis  XIV.  in  armour,  holding 
the  Sceptre  (engraving  on  cop- 
per)     .         .         .  facing  page  24 

Hire  (Laurens  de  la),  1606-1656, 
born  at  Paris,  Member  of  the 
Academy. 

Louis  XIV.  giving  Letters  Patent 
to  the  Benedictines,  1653        .  12 

Hœse  (M.  de),  lived  in  Flanders  in 
1690. 

Portrait  of  Philip  Sydenham       .  344 

Jouvenet  (Jean),  1644-1717,  born  at 
Rouen. 

Portrait  of  Bourdaloue       .  .297 

Kneller  (Godfrey),  1646-1723,  born 
at  Liibeck. 

Portrait  of  Dryden    .         .         .  338 
Halley     .        .  .341 
,,        Locke  (Jean)    .        .  343 
,,        James   II.,    King  of 
England  (engraving  on  copper) 

facing  page  356 

Lebrun  (Charles),  1619-1690,  born  at 
Paris,  Director  and  Chancellor  of  the 
Academy. 

Decoration  executed  for  the  Am- 
bassadors' Staircase  (Versailles) .  1 
Composition  in  honour   of  Louis 

XIV.  as  conqueror  (Versailles)  67 
Silver  portable  stand  (Versailles)  69 


PRINCIPAL  PAINTERS 

PAGE 

Lebrun  (Charles) — continued. 

Silver  orange-tree  tub,  with  gold 
and  precious  stones  (Versailles)  72 

The  King's  footmen  caiTying  the 
collation  on  a  portable  stand 
(Series  of  "  The  Seasons  ")      .  73 

Golden  vase  (Series  of  "  The 
Seasons,"  Versailles)        .        .  87 

A  gold  ewer  (Series  of  "  The 
Seasons,"  Versailles)        .         .  92 

The  Vicomte  de  Turenne  (Ver- 
sailles)  122 

Louis  XIV.  on  horseback  (Ver- 
sailles)  223 

Pierre  Corneille         .        .  .301 

The  Rape  of  Proserpine  (Versailles)  321 

True  religion  triumphant  under 
Louis  XIV  401 

Lefebvre  (CI.),  1633-1675,  born  at 
Fontainebleau. 

Portrait  of  Louvois    .        .  .64 
Portrait  of  Jean  Baptiste  de  Col- 
bert, Marquis  de  Seignelay  (Ver- 
sailles) .        .        .        .  .137 
Portrait  of  Jean  Baptiste  de  Col- 
bert, with  his  arms — the  Snake.  255 
Portrait  of  Conrart     .         .         .  293 
Portrait  of  Jean  Varin       .        .  333 

Lely,  Sir  Peter  van  der  Faes,  1618— 
1680,  born  in  Westphalia. 

Philippe,  "Fils  de  France,"  brother 

of  the  King   .        .        .  .24 
Sir  William  Temple    .        .  .342 

The  Lely  School. 

A  concert  by  children  (Versailles)  321 

Lenain  (the  brothers  Louis  and  An- 
toine) died  in  1648  ;  Members  of  the 
Academy,  1648. 

Peasants  at  table  (Louvre)  .        .  259 
Field  work  (Louvre)   .        .  .280 
Church  procession   in  the  seven- 
teenth century  (Louvre)   .         .  353 

Markham. 

Jonathan  Swift  .        .        .  340 


ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    PRINCIPAL    PAINTERS  451 


PAG  !i 

MlGNARD  (Pierre),  1610-1695,  born  <at 
Troyes,  Director  of  the  Academy, 
1690. 

Louis  XIV.  at  the  period  of  his 

marriage        .        .        .        .  xii 
The  Grand  Dauphin  and  his  family  155 
Gabriel  Nicolas  de  la  Reynie  (en- 
graving on  copper)  .  facing  page  206 

Molière  302 

Madame  de  Maintenon  as  Saint 

Frances  of  Rome    .        .        .  421 
Madame  Scarron  (1659)      .        .  459 

Mouzyn  (Michel),  Holland,  about  1660. 

Portrait  of  Admiral  de  Ruyter     .  227 

Netscher  (Gaspard),  1639-1684,  born 
at  Heidelberg. 

Madame  de  Montespan        .         .  105 

Nocrkt  (Jean),  1617-1672,  born  at 
Nancy,  Member  of  the  Academy. 

Mademoiselle  de  la  Vallière  .        .  102 

Poussin  (Nicolas),  1594-1665,  born  at 
Villiers. 

Time  shelters  Truth  from  the 
attacks  of  Envy  and  Discord 
(Louvre)        .        .        .        .  xvi 

Rk;aud  (Hyacinthe),  1659-1743,  born 
at  Perpignan,  Member  of  the 
Academy,  1700. 

The  Princess  Palatine,  Duchesse 

d'Orléans  (Versailles)       .        .  75 
Philippe  de  Courcillon,  Marquis  de 
Dangeau  (engraving  on  copper) 

facing  page  82 
Francois  Henri  de  Montmorency, 
Duc  et   Maréchal   de  Luxem- 
bourg   (engraving    on  copper) 

facing  \>ag    1  28 
Louis  XV.  as  a  child  (Versailles)  169 
Philip   V.,  King  of  Spain  (Ver- 
sailles),  (engraving    on  copper) 

facing  page  180 

Bossuet  296 

La  Fontaine  (engraving  on  copper) 

fa  ing  page  30 1 
Boileau  Despréaux  (Versailles)     .  305 
Pierre    Mignard    (engraving  on 
copper) .        .        .  facing  page  324 


PAGE 

i:  igaud  (Hyacinthe) — continued. 

Jean  Racine  (engraving  on  copper) 

facing  page  400 
Cardinal  Dubois         .        .        .  425 

Rigaud  School. 

Louis  XIV.  in  armour  (Versailles)  181 

Romain  (Jules). 

Gobelins  Tapestry  (Fontainebleau)  203 

Sève  (Pierre  de),  1623-1695,  born  at 
Moulins,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1663. 

Duchesse  de  Montpensier  (engrav- 
ing on  copper)         .  facing  page  104 

Silver  portable  stand  (from  "Louis 
XIV.  aux  Gobelins  "')       .        .  69 

Silvestre  (Louis  de),  1675-1760,  born 
at  Paris. 

Louis  XIV.  receiving  the  Electoral 
Prince  of  Saxony  (Versailles)     .  93 

Tournière  (Robert  de),  1668-1752, 
born  at  Caen,  Member  of  the 
Academy,  1702. 

Louis  Phelipeaux  de  Pontchai  train, 
Chancellor  of  France  (engraving 
on  copper)     .        .  facing  page  272 

Van  der  Meulen  (Antoine  Francois), 
1634-1690,  born  at  Brussels. 

Studies  of  Horsemen  (preserved  at 

the  Gobelins).        .        .  216,220 
Procession  of  Louis  XIV.  on  the 
Pont  Neuf,  1670     .        .        .  229 

Velasquez  (Diego),  Spanish  painter. 

Pope  Innocent  X.  403 

Vernansal  (Guy  Louis),  born  at  Fon- 
tainebleau, 1649-1729,  Member  of 
the  Academy,  1687. 

Cardinal  de  Bouillon  .        .  .445 

Vivien  (Joseph),  1657-1745,  born  at 
Lyons,  Member  of  the  Academy,  1701. 
François  de  Salignac  de  la  Mothe- 

Fénelon         .  •        •  433 

François  de  Salignac  de  la  Mothe- 
Fénelon  (engraving  on  copper), 

facing  page  436 


452 


ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    PRINCIPAL  SCULPTORS 


SCULPTORS 


PAGE 

Benoist  (Antoine),  1631-1717,  Member 
of  the  Academy,  1681. 

Louis  XIV.  in  old  age  (medallion 
at  Versailles)  .         .  .167 

Coustou  (Nicolas),  1658-1733,  born  at 
Lyons,  Member  of  the  Academy,  1693. 
Apollo   presenting  the    image  of 

Louis  XIV.  to  France  (Louvre)  40 
Statue  of  Louis  XIV.  at  Lyons 

238,  326,  327 
Pediment  of  the  new  custom-house 

at  Rouen       ....  253 
The  bedchamber  of  Louis  XIV. 
(Versailles)    .        .        .  .315 

Coysevox  (Antoine),  1640-1720,  born 
at  Lyons,  Director  of  the  Academy, 
1676. 

Marble  bust  of  Louis  XIV. 

Frontispiece 
Marble     bust     of    Louis  XIV. 

(Versailles)  .  .  .  .63 
France  triumphant  (bronze  group, 

Versailles)  .  .  .  xv 
Marble  vase,  "  The  pre-eminence  of 

France  acknowledged  by  Spain  " 

(terrace,  Versailles)  .  .66 
Bas-relief  in  honour  of  Louis  XIV. 

as  conqueror  (Versailles)  .  .  67 
The  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne  (marble 

bust,  Versailles)  .  .  .159 
The  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne  as  a 

huntress  (marble  statue,  Louvre)  159 
The  great  Condé  (Louvre)  .  .  303 
Nymph  with  a  shell  (Louvre)  .  326 
Antoine  Coysevox  (from  a  portrait 

by  G.  Allou)  .        .        .  .329 

Desjardins  (Martin  van  der  Bogaerts), 
1640-1694,  born  at  Breda,  Member 
of  the  Academy,  1671. 

Duels  abolished  (medallion,  Louvre)  214 
Statue  of  Louis  XIV.  at  Lyons  .  238 
Edouard  de  Colbert,  Marquis  de 

Villacerf  (Louvre)  .  .  .  254 
Heresy  destroyed  (medallion, 

Louvre)         .        .        .  .364 


Drouilly,  born  at  Vernon,  died  in  1698. 
Large  vase  on  the  terrace  at  Ver- 
sailles, with  the  arms  of  the  Sun- 
King   51 

Dugoulon,  born  at  Paris. 

Large  vase  on  the  terrace  at  Ver- 
sailles, with  the  arms  of  the  Sun- 
King    .        .        ...  .51 

Girardon  (François),  1628-1715,  born 
at  Troyes,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1657. 

Equestrian  statue  of  Louis  XIV. 

for  the  Place  Vendôme  (Louvre)  53 
The  cascade  of  the  Baths  of  Diana 

(Versailles)  .  .  .  .311 
The  Rape  of  Proserpine  (Versailles)  321 

Guidi  (Domenico),  born  at  Urbino, 
Member  of  the  Academy,  1676. 

Fame  entrusts  to  Time  the  image 
of  Louis  XIV.  (gardens  of 
Versailles)     ....  3 

Legros  (Pierre),  the  younger,  1666— 
1719,  born  at  Paris. 

Geometry  (marble  bust,  Louvre)  .  343 
Charity  (marble  bust,  Louvre)      .  354 

Lehongre  (Etienne),  1628-1690,  born 
at  Paris,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1669. 

Cresset  in  bronze,  in  the  "  Bosquet  " 
(gardens  of  Versailles)      .        .  92 

Lespingola  (François),  born  at  Join- 
ville,  died  in  1765,  Member  of  the 
Academy,  1676. 

The  bedchamber  of  Louis  XIV. 
(Versailles)    .        .        .  .315 

Massou  (Benoît),  1633-1684,  born  at 
Richelieu. 

Group  in  gilt  metal,  Loves  bearing 
quivers  and  supporting  an  escut- 
cheon with  the  King's  monogram  460 


ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    PRINCIPAL  ENGRAVERS 


453 


PAGE 

Puget  (Pierre),  1622-1694,  born  at 
Marseilles 

Louis  XIV.,  medallion  (Versailles)  .39 
Pierre  Puget,  by  himself  (Aix)  .  330 
Doorway  of   the  Hôtel  de  Ville 

(Toulon)        ....  332 
Christ  (bust,  Marseilles)      .  .361 

Rousselet  (Jean),  1656-1693,  Member 
of  the  Academy,  1686. 

The  Muse  of  History  writing  the 
life  of  Louis  XIV.  (Louvre)      .  306 

Sarrasin  (Jacques),  1588-1660,  bora 
at  Noyon,  first  Director  of  the 
Academy. 

A  female  faun  (marble  bust)  .  328 
Bust  of  the  Virgin  .  .  .  355 
The  Flight  into  Egypt  (Versailles) .  365 

Tuby  (Jean  Baptiste),  1635-1700,  born 
at  Rome,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1676. 


PAGE 

Tuby  (Jean  Baptiste) — continued. 

France  triumphant  (bronze  group, 

gardens  of  Versailles)        .        .  xv 
Louis  XIV.  victor  in  the  war  with 

Holland  (marble  vase,  Versailles)  318 

Van  Clève  (Corneille),  1645-1732,  born 
at  Paris,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1681. 

Frieze  of  the  Salon  de  l'Œil  de 
Bœuf  (Versailles)    .        .     37,  283 

A  lion  striking  down  a  wolf  (bronze 
group,  Versailles)    .        .        .  327 

Warin    (Jean),    1604-1672,    born  at 
Liège,  Member  of  the  Academy,  1665. 
Bust  of  Louis  XIV.  (Versailles)    .  43 
Marble   statue    of    Louis  XIV. 

(Versailles)    .        .        .  .59 
Pierre  Gassendi  (medallion) .        .  289 
Portrait  of  himself,  by  CI.  Lefebvre 
(Versailles)    .        .        .  .333 


ENGRAVERS 


Arnoult  (Nicolas). 

The  Duc  de  Bourgogne  visiting  the 
Princess  of  Savoy  at  her  toilet 
(engraving  on  copper)  facing  page  156 

Audran  (Gérard  and  Benoît),  1640- 
1703,  1661-1721,  Members  of  the 
Academy. 

Statue  of  Louis  XIV.  at  Lyons    .  238 
Portrait  of  Jean  Baptist  Colbert 
(after  Lefebvre)      .        .        .  255 

Baillieul. 

Bird's-eye  view  of  Marly    .        .  237 
Frontispiece  of  the  first  edition  of 
"Télémaque"  (1717)        .        .  299 

Bonnart  (Robert  François),  born  about 
1649  at  Paris. 

Lulli  and  his  orchestra          .         .  vi 
Mary  Ann  Stuart,  Queen  of  Eng- 
land  90 

"  Demoiselles   de   Saint-Cyr,"  in 

1686    150 

"  Dame  Religieuse  "  of  Saint-Cyr  .  151 


Fashion  in  1678; 


Bonnart  (Robert  François) — continued. 
Sister  of  charity  carrying  succour 

to  the  wounded     .        .  .199 
The  clock-maker        .        .        .  206 
The  mirror-maker       .        .        .  207 
,  A  lady  in  summer- 
dress     .  .273 
1 A  man  in  winter 
'    costume.        .  274 
A  harpsichord  of  the  seventeenth 

century         .        .  .  312 

Damon  and  Urania  .  .  322,  323 
The  dancing  master  .  .  .  324 
An  abbé  wearing  a  cassock  .  .351 

Burford  (Thomas),  English  engraver, 
1710-1770. 

Jonathan  Swift  (after  Markham)  .  340 

Ciiauveau  (François),  1613-1676,  born 
at  Paris,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1663. 

Fouquet  protecting  the  arts  and 
sciences,  and  rendering  justice  .  27 


454        ALPHABETICAL    LIST  OF 

PAGE 

Chauveau  (François) — continued. 

The    Royal   Tournament   in  the 
Courtyard  of  the  Tuileries,  1662 

47-49 

Ornamental  letters    99,  253,  283,  291, 

311,  335 

Chevardi. 

Louis  XIV.  all-powerful  on  land 
and  sea         .         .         .  .156 

Cossin  the  Elder  (called  Coquin  Louis), 
1623-1687,  born  at  Troyes 

Giovanni  Domenico  Cassini.         .  286 
Portrait  of  Conrart   (after  Lefeb- 
vre)  293 

Crespy  (Jean),  born  in  1650  at  Paris. 

Godet  des  Marais  (after  Bria)       .  435 

Desmaretz. 

An  entertainment  in  Paris  in  the 
seventeenth  century        .  .187 

Desrochers      (Etienne  Johandier), 
1661-1741,  born  at  Lyons. 

Georges  de  Scudéry  .  .  .  300 
Père  Michel  le  Tellier      .        .  420 

Duflos  (Claude),  1662-1727,  born  at 
Paris. 

Fénelon  299 

Drevet  (Pierre),  1664-1738,  born  at 
Saint-Colombe  (Dauphiné). 

Philippe  de  Courcillon,  Marquis  de 
Dangeau  (after  H.  Rigaud)  (en- 
graving on  copper)   facing  page  82 
Fénelon  (after  Vivien)  (engraving 
on  copper)         .       facing  page  436 

Edelinck  (Gérard),  1640-1707,  bornât 
Anvers. 

François  Henri  de  Montmorency, 
Duc  de  Luxembourg  (after  H. 
Rigaud)  (engraving  on  copper) 

facing  page  128 
La  Fontaine  (engraving  on  copper) 

facing  page  304 
Louis  XIV.   patronises  art  and 

science  .....  308 
John  Dryden    .        .        .  .338 


PRINCIPAL  ENGRAVERS 

PAGE 

Edelinck  (Gérard) — continued. 

Jean  Racine  (engraving  on  copper) 

facing  page  400 
True    religion   triumphant  under 

Louis  XIV  401 

Portrait  of  Pascal      .         .         .  409 

Frosne  (Jean),  1623-1676. 

The  Hôtel  de  Ville,  Paris,  in  1687  235 

Gole  (Jean),  born  at  Amsterdam. 

Pierre  Jurieu    ....  383 

Green  (Valentin),  1707-1800,  born  in 
London. 

Pope  Innocent  X.  (after  Velasquez)  403 

Guérard. 

The  Villager  or  Peasant  who  is 
born  to  labour       .        .  .275 

Houbroken  (Jacques),  1698-1780,  born 
at  Dordrecht. 

Sir  William  Temple  (after  Lely)    .  342 

Houchlenburgh  (J.  Van). 

The  King's  Pi'ocession  on  the  Pont 
Neuf  (from  Van  der  Moulen)   .  229 

Huret  (Grégoire),  1610-1670,  born  at 
Lyons,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1663. 

Madame  de  Longueville  urging 
her  brothers  to  cultivate  litera- 
ture and  eloquence  .         .  .411 

JOLLAIN. 

The  glory  of  Paris  and  the  splen- 
dour of  its  Bourgeois  in 
Louis  XIV. 's  reign         .        .  244 

Lagniet  (Jacques). 

A  Noble  and  his  wife  .  .  5 

An  alchemist's  laboratory  in  the 

seventeenth  century.  .  .162 

The  Spider  and  the  Fly  .  .  200 

Landry  (Pierre),  born  about  1630  at 
Paris. 

The  revenue-farmer  or  the  miser  .  34 

Larmessin    (Nicolas  de),  1640-1694, 
born  at  Paris. 

The  baptism  of  the  Duc  de  Bour- 
gogne   .        .        .        .  .146 


ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    PRINCIPAL  ENGRAVERS 


455 


PAGE 

Leclero  (Sébastien),  1637—1714,  born 
at  Metz,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1G72. 

Fame  proclaiming  the  glories  of 
Louis  XIV.  (1674)  ...  4 

Councillor  to  the  parliament         .  26 

A  chief  justice   .        .         .  .28 

Louis  XIV.  converses  with  the 
Muses  .        .        .        .  .94 

A  gipsy  telling  his  fortune  to  a 
soldier  .        .        .         .  .130 

Love  at  the  Chateau    .        .  .135 

The  "  Galerie  des  Glaces  "  at 
Versailles      .        .        .  .174 

Enigmatic  print  to  the  praise  of 
Louis  XIV  175 

The  colonnade  of  the  Louvre 
during  its  construction    .         .  194 

"  Fide  et  obsequio  :  "  Louis  XIV. 
giving  orders  to  his  Ministers    .  197 

The  French  trader      .         .  .201 

A  fête  at  the  Gobelins  in  honour 
of  Lebrun      .        .        .  .202 

Pikeman  at  drill         .        .         .  217 

French  artillery  in  action,  Feb- 
ruary 28th,  1674    .        .  .219 

A  picture  of  military  life,  1672     .  222 

French  pikemen  attacking  a  for- 
tress :  Siege  of  Tournay    .        .  225 

French  fleet  in  battle  array  :  Battle 
of  Agouste,  1676    .        .        .  226 

Composition  in  honour  of  Louis 
XIV  281 

Louis  XIV.  visiting  the  Academy 
of  Sciences    ....  285 

Chemistry  at  tlie  Academy  of 
Sciences  in  the  seventeenth 
century  .        .        .  .287 

Composition  by,  in  the  series  called 
"The  Lorraine"     .        .  .291 

Chancellor  Séguier      .        .        .  307 

Composition  by,  in  honour  of  the 
foundation  of  the  Academies  by 
Louis  XIV  313 

Louis  X 1  V.  visiting  an  exhibition 
of  painting  at  the  Gobelins,  1699  314 

Composition  in  honour  of  Louis 
XIV.  (after  Lebrun)        .         .  397 

Fame  glorifying  Louis  XIV.       .  430 

The  glorious  arms  of  Louis  XIV.  431 


PAGE 

Lkclebc  (Sébastien) — continued. 

Madame  Guyon  with  the  features 
of  the  Virgin,  "  to  whom  God 
Himself  is  subject  "         .        .  438 

The  Golden  Age  come  back  to 
earth    .....  439 

"Lex  una  sub  uno"'  .        .        .  446 

Ornamented  Letter    .         .  xxvii 

Lexfant  (Jean),  born  at  Paris,  died 
about  1674. 

Harlay  de  Chanvallon         .        .  436 

Lepautre  (Jean),  1617-1682,  born  at 
Paris,  Member  of  the  Academy,  1G77. 

The  Court  at  Fontainebleau  in  1 662  25 

"  Alceste  "  by  Molière,  acted  before 
the  King  at  Versailles,  1674      .  106 

Lonis-Auguste  de  Bourbon,  Due 
de  Maine  (after  Dieu)      .  .116 

The  Requiem  Mass  for  Madame    .  123 

The  Loves  weeping  around  the 
coftin  of  Henrietta  of  England  .  125 

An  old  street  in  Paris  :  La  Rue 
aux  Ours  in  the  seventeenth 
century         .        .        .  .208 

A  duel  in  the  seventeenth  century  214 

"My  master  sees  everything"  (De 
Lionne)  ....  232 

A  sermon  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury :  the  Capuchin         .        .  295 

Mass  in  a  Church  of  the  seven- 
teenth century        .        .    349,  350 

Rights  of  the  "  Regale  "      .  .360 

House  of  the  Jesuit  Professors  at 
St.  Germain  des  Prés       .        .  399 

The  Jesuits       .        .        .  .429 

Lubin  (Jacques),  1637-1695,  born  at 
Paris. 

Antoine  le  Maître  (1608-1658)     .  413 

Mariette  (Jean),  1660-1742,  born  at 
Paris. 

Louis  XIV.  in  1698,  surrounded  by 

his  family  (almanac  print)         .  158 
Fountains  in  Paris      .        .        .  242 
The  Seine,  Nôtre  Dame,  and  the 
gardens  of  l'île  du  Palais  .        .  250 

MaE0T  (Daniel),  born  at  Paris  about 
1661,  died  in  Holland. 

Pierre  Jurieu  (after  Gole)    .        .  383 


ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    PRINCIPAL  ENGRAVERS 


450 

PAGE 

Marot  (Jean),  1619-1679,  born  at 
Paris. 

The  Hôtel  of  Madame  de  Beauvais, 

Paris  241 

Port-Royal  of  Paris    .        .  .407 

Masson  (Antoine),  1636-1702,  born  at 
Loury  (Loiret),  Member  of  the 
Academy,  1679. 

Guy  Patin  (a  type  of  the  Paris 
doctor)  .        .        .        .  .162 

Mellan  (Claude),  1598-1688,  born  at 
Abbeville. 

Allegorical    print    in    honour  of 
the  publication  of  the  Code  of 

Louis  XIV  211 

Principal  points  of    the  Catholic 
Faith  369 

Moncornet  (Balthasar),  1615-  1668, 
born  at  Rouen. 

The  royal  hunt  at  Vincennes        .  6 

Morin  (Jean),  1609-1650,  born  at  Paris. 
Anne  of   Austria   (engraving  on 

copper)  .        .        .  facing  page  4 
Corneille  Jansen         .        .        .  400 

Nanteuil  (Robert),  1625-1678,  born 
at  Rheims. 

Marie  Thérèse  ....  xiii 
The  Marquise  de  Sévigné  (engraving 

on  copper)      .         .  facing  page  42 
S.  Arnauld  de  Pomponne  (engrav- 
ing on  copper)         .  facing  page  62 
The  Civil  Lieutenant  d'Aubray     .  126 
Denis  Talon,  Lord   Chief  Justice 

(engraving  on  copper)  facing  page  240 
Abbé  Théodore,  of  Tour  d  Auvergne, 
Duc  dAlbret  .        .        .  .442 

Pérelle  (Adam),  1638-1695,  born  at 
Paris. 

The  Porte  Saint-Bernard  .  .246 
The  Seine,  Nôtre  Dame,  and  the 

gardens  of  l'île  du  Palais  .  250 

The  amphitheatre  of  Saint-Coure  .  319 

Pitau  (Nicolas),  1670-1724,  born  at 
Paris. 

Père  Quesnel     .        .        .  .415 


PAGE 

Pitteri  (Marcus),  1703-1767,  born  at 
Venice. 

Scipio  Maffei      .        .        .  .346 

Poilly  (François  de),  1622-1723,  born 
at  Abbeville. 

Tail-piece  .....  viii 
Louis  XIV.  as  conqueror  :  a  tribute 

to  the  memory  of  Mazarin         .  3 
Mademoiselle  de   Montpensier  as 

Minerva        .        .        .  .109 
Medallion  in  honour  of  Louis  XIV.  251 

Regnesson,  1630-1670,  born  at  Rheims. 

Wisdom  triumphs  over  Destiny     .  165 

Rochefort. 

Le  Maréchal  de  Villars       .        .  390 

Rossler. 

Bourdaloue     at      prayer  (from 
Jouvenet)      .        .        .  .297 

Rottiers  or  Roettiers  (Joseph),  1692- 
1779,  born  at  Paris,  Engraver  to  the 
King's  Mint. 

God  confounds  the  designs  of  the 
proud    .....  418 

Roy,  C. 

Cardinal  Dubois         .         .        .  425 

Saint-Jean. 

The  toilet  of  a  lady  of  quality       .  89 

Portrait  of  a  young  lady  by  Rethel  240 

A  lady  reclining  on  a  tent-bedstead  245 

A  lady  of  quality  in  déshabillé     .  248 

The  bathroom  of  a  lady  of  quality .  265 

Sarrabat  (Isaac),  born  at  Paris,  1667. 
J.  B.  Bossuet  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two      .        .        .        .  .296 

Scotin  (the  elder)  (Girard),  1643-1715, 
born  at  Anvers,  died  in  Paris. 

An  entertainment  in  Paris  in  the 
seventeenth  century         .  .187 

Sevin  (Paul),  1650,  born  at  Tournon. 

A  sitting  of  the  Académie  Française  292 
Ornamental    letter  in  honour  of 
Louis  XIV  335 


ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    PRINCIPAL  ENGRAVERS 


457 


PACK 

Silvestre  (François),  1667— 1738,  born 
at  Paris,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1737. 

The  golden  age  come  back  to  earth  43U 

Silvestre  (Israel),  1621-1691,  born  at 
Nancy,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1670. 

"  Les  Noces  de  Thetis,"  the  first 

opera  played  in  Paris,  1654  .  15 
A  nocturnal   fête  on  the  Grand 

Canal  at  Versailles  in  1674  .  101 
Versailles  :  principal  front  looking 

on  the  gardens  .  .  .  xiv 
The  Royal  Palace  of  Versailles  in 

1674  :  principal  front  .  .134 
The  Chateau  de  Versailles  in  1674  : 

south  front  .  .  .  .138 
Paris  in  the  seventeenth  century  : 

view  of  the  Pont  Neuf     .  .212 

Simon. 

Addison  (after  Dahl).         .         .  339 

Simonne  au  (Charles),  1656-1728,  born 
at  Orleans,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1710. 

The  amphitheatre  of  Saint-Coure.  -11-* 

Simpol  (Claude),  born  at  Clamecy,  died 
1709. 

A  duel  in  the  seventeenth  century  214 

Smith  (John  Raphael),  English  engraver 
of  the  eighteenth  century 

Philip  Sydenham  (after  Hiese)      .  344 
Louis  XIV.  favours  Catholicism 
by   receiving   King   James  at 
Versailles      ....  359 

Tardieo  (Nicolas  Henri),  1674-1749, 
Member  of  the  Academy,  1720. 

God  confounds  the  design  of  the 
proud    .         .        .        .  .1LS 


PAGE 

Thomassin  (Simon),  1652-1732,  born 
at  Troy  es. 

Cardinal  de  Bouillon.         .         .  445 

Tkouvain,  1656-1708,  born  at  Mont- 
didier,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1707. 

Life  at  the  Court  :  (a)  The  Royal 
Family  at  a  concert  ;  (b)  the 
game  of  "  Trou-Madame  "        .  1 45 

Life  at  the  Court  :  the  King's 
children  at  collation        .  .149 

Père  La  Chaise.        .  .417 

Van  Broen. 

Madame  Guyon  at  the  age  of 
forty-four       ....  432 

Van  Meurs. 

Madame  de  Montespan  (after 
Netscher)       .        .        .  .105 

Van  Schuppen  (Pierre),  1627-1702, 
born  at  Anvers,  Member  of  the 
Academy,  1663. 

Composition    in   the    form    of  a 
medal  in  honour  of  Chancellor 
Le  Tellier      .        .        .  .33 
Louvois  (after  A.  Lefebvre)        .  64 
Duchesse  de    Montpensier  (after 
De    Sève)    (engraving    on  cop- 
per)     .        .         facing  page  104 
Isaac  Louis  de  Sacy  .        .  .410 

Vertue  (George),  1684-1752,  born  in 
London. 

John  Locke  (after  Kneller)        .  343 

White  (Robert),  English  engraver  of  1 
the  seventeenth  century. 

Portrait  of  Halley  (after  Kneller)  341 

Wille  (Jean),  1715-1808,  born  at 
Giessen,  Member  of  the  Academy, 
1761. 

Cardinal  de  Tencin  (after  Heil- 
mann)  .  *i7 


3  N 


458 


ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    ART   CHASERS,  Etc. 


ARCHITECTS 


PACK 

Cotte  (Robert),  1657-1735,  born  at 
Paris. 

The  "  Cadenas,"  or  table  dressing- 
case  of  Louis  XIV.  (Cotte  col- 
lection) .        .        .  .58 

Knife,  spoon,  and  fork  used  by 
Louis  XIV.  (Cotte  collection) .  60 

Mansart  (Jules  Hardouin),  1648- 
1708,  born  at  Paris,  Superintendent 
of  the  King's  Buildings. 


PACK 

Mansart  (Jules  Hardouin) — continued. 
The  Royal  Palace    of  Versailles 

in  1674  :  principal  front         .  134 
The  Royal    Palace  of  Versailles 

in  1674  :  south  front     .  .128 
The  Hôtel  des  Invalides    .  .218 

Perrault  (Claude),   1613-1688,  born 
at  Paris. 

The    Colonnade   of   the  Louvre  : 
elevation  of  the  principal  front 

100,  194 


MEDAL  ENGRAVERS 


Bertinetti,  or  Berthiner. 

Medallion  of  Louis  XIV.,  1671.  38 
Another  medallion  of  Louis  XIV.  364 

Chéron  (Charles  François),  1635- 
1698,  born  at  Nancy,  Member  of 
the  Academy. 

The  Great  Coudé  .  .  .303 
The  Triumphs  of  the  Great  Condc  303 

Faltz. 

Medal   in   honour  of  the  King's 
Councils         .         .         .  .65 

Loir  (Louis),  1638-1719,  born  at 
Clermont,  in  Beavaisis. 

The  King,  a  beneficent  sun  .  v 

Louis  XIV.  in  1660.        .  .  23 

Mauger  (Jean),  1648-1722,  born  at 
Dieppe,  died  in  Paris. 


Mauger  (Jean) — continued. 

Louis  XIV.  when  five  years  old 

(medal,  May,  1643)  .  .13 
Louis  XIV.  when  thirteen  years 

old  (medal,  September,  1650)  .  13 
The  King's  charity  (medal,  1662)  .  57 
Société    des   Marchands  (medal, 

1664)   199 

Molart    (Michel   Mollard),   born  at 
Dieppe. 

The  King  assuming  the  govern- 
ment of  the  State,  1661  (front 
and  reverse)  .         .         .  .23 

The  Queen's  entry  into  Paris,  1660  23 

Reverse  of  a  medal  of  1680  (for 
"La  Levée  des  Matelots")      .  197 

Coin  in  honour  of  the  aggrandise- 
ment of  Paris,  1670  .  206 

War  in  (Jean),  see  Sculptors. 


ART  CHASERS,  DRAUGHTSMEN,  AND  MOSAIC  ARTISTS 


Ballin  (Claude),   1614  or  1615-1678, 
born  in  Paris,  Director  of  the  Mint. 
A   children's  bacchanalia,  bronze 
vase  on  the  terrace  of  the  Chateau 
de  Versailles  .        .  .314 

Berain  (Jean),  born  in  1638,  at  Saint 
Mihiel(?),  died  at  Paris  in  1711, 
Draughtsman  to  the  King. 


Berain  (Jean) — continued. 

Opera  and  ballet  costumes,  masks, 
grotescme  faces  and  dancers, 
after  a  manuscript  in  the  Ver- 
sailles Library  19, 20, 21, 22, 76, 77, 81 

Composition  for  a  funeral  cere- 
mony   .....  133 

Medallion:  Establishment  of  Cadet 
Companies      .         .         .  .219 


ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    AET    CHASERS,  Etc. 


459 


PAGE 

Boulle  (Andre  Charles),  1642-1732, 
born  at  Paris. 

Cabinet  with  a  medallion  of  the 
King  in  the  centre  (the  King's 
Chamber,  Versailles)       .  .41 

Top  of  a  chest  of  drawers  (Fon- 
tainebleau)   .        .        .  .62 

Cabinet  at  Fontainebleau    .         ,  185 


Boulle  (André  Charles) — continued 

Cabinet  in  the  Louvre,  by.        .  331 

Gilles  l'Égaré. 

Jewels  of  the  seventeenth  century  36 

MoRANT  DE  PONDEVAUX. 

Fragment  of  the  clock  in  the 
King's  Cabinet  at  the  Chateau 
de  Versailles  .        ,        ,  .58 


MADAME  SCAHHOX,   BY  MIONAKD,  165!>. 
(After  a  portrait  by  M.  Penjou.) 


GROUP  IN  GILT  METAL,   BY  MASSOU. 

Loves  bearing  quivers  and  supporting  an  escutcheon 
with  the  King's  monogram. 
(Staircase  leading  to  the  Queen's  apartments, 
Chateau  de  Versailles.) 


INDEX 


ABBAYK  de  Morel,  nun  in  the,  supposed  to  be 
a  daughter  of  Louis  XIV.,  194 
Abbeville,  cloths  made  at,  201 
Abbey  of  Port-Royal,  Paris,  400,  4u7.  409 
Académie  des  Belles-lettres,  founded  in  1603,  280 
Académie  Française,  the,  292;  Conrart,  the  founder 
of,  293 

Academy  of   Architecture,    founded   in    1071  by 

Colbert,  312 
Academy  of  Painting,  founded  by  Colbert,  313 
Academy  of  Sciences,  established  by  Louis  XIV.. 

208,  285,  286 
Addison,  337-339 

Agriculture  neglected  in  France,  259,  200 
Alexander  VIL,  Pope,  302  ;  and  Louis  XIV.,  50,  05  ; 

and  the  Janséniste,  400,  409 
Aligre,  Etienne  d',  the  Chancellor,  356,  357 
Allacci  (librarian  of  the  Vatican),  94 
AmadeuB,  Victor  (Duke  of  Savoy),  51 
Amsterdam,  the  ( 'alvinists  of  France  invited  to,  375 
Anjou,  1  >ue  d',  177 
Annat,  Père,  4o7 

Anne  of  Austria,  4,  6,  9,  12,  48,  128  ;  and  Louis 
XIII.,  1 1  ;  a  son  of,  supposed  to  he  the  Man  in 
the  Iron  Mask,   22»;    retirement  of.  41:  funeral 

oration  by  Bourdaloue,  29 1 
Annecy,  Bishop  of,  132 
Antin,  Due  d',  191,  192 
Architects  in  France,  328-330 

Architecture.  Academy  of,  founded  by  Colbert,  312 
ArgenBon,  M.  d'  (Lieutenant  of  Police),  205 
Arminians,  the,  quarrel  with  the  Oomarists,  405 

Army  of  Fiance,  reforms  in  the,  by  Louis  XIV., 
213-226 

Amauld    (Bishop    of    Angers)  defends  Jansenism, 

401-414 
Arsenals  in  France,  227.  228 

Art  of  the  seventeenth  century,  xiii.  ;    Louis  XIV. 

and,  96,  97,  328-334 
Artillery  in  the  French  army,  215,  219 
Assembly  of  the  Clergy  convoked  by  Louis  XIV., 

358-362 

Astrology  at  the  Court  of  Louis  XIV.,  51 
Athalie,  composed  by  Racine,  150,  151 
Aubignac,  Abbé  d',  300 
Aubusson,  carpets  made  at,  202 
Audr.au,  (1.  (engraver),  xiv.,  329,  334 
Augsburg  alliance,  France  and  the,  203 
A  vaux,  Comte  d',  1 1 8 


BACKGAMMON,  Louis  XIV.  and,  191 
Bacon,  Lord,  340 
Balin,  Claude  (goldsmith),  329 

Ballets,  in  the  early  years  of  Louis  XIV..  15,  100  ; 

Lu  Nuit,  16,  17  ;  /.u  Jeunesse,  139 
Ballin,  carvings  by,  204,  334 
Halls  at  Versailles,  75,  70 
Balzac,  293 

Barbesieux,  Marquis  de,  189 
Barnevelt,  Jan  de,  of  Holland,  405 
Baron,  the  famous  actor,  151 

Bastille,  the  Man  in  the  Iron  Mask  in  the,  19  ; 
Comte  de  Bussi  imprisoned  at  the,  96,  98  ;  the 
Comte  de  Lauzun  in,  115  ;  sorcerers  confined  in 
the,  129 

Bàville,  Intendant,  393,  394 

Bay  (or  Baïus),  Michel,  a  doctor,  398 

Bayle,  288,  289,  309 

Bayonet,  the,  used  in  the  French  army,  214,  215 
Beaufort,  Duc  de,  227 

Beaumont.  Abbé  de.  the  King's  preceptor.  4.  5.  7.  16 

Beauvais,  Baronne  de,  3 

Beauvais,  tapestry  manufactured  at,  201 

Beauvilliers,  Duchesse  de,  433.  434 

Beauvilliers,  Duc  de,  437 

Bellièvre,  de,  198 

lielloc,  rnlit  tir  cliiiinhrr  to  Louis  XIV..  47 

Benedictines,  the,  12 

Benoist,  Antoine,  wax  medallion  by,  14 

Benserade,  allegories  by,  50,  55  ;  Louis  XIV.  and.  90 

Bentivoglio,  Cardinal,  370 

Bérain,  M.,  76,  81 

Bernini,  Cavalière,  207 

Bernoulli,  Jacques,  288 

Berri,  Duc  de,  152 

Berryer,  35 

Bertinetti,  models  by,  14 
Berwick,  Maréchal  de,  392,  393 
Bèze,  psalms  of,  373 
Bibliothèque  Royale,  the,  286 
Bignon,  211 

Billiards  at  Versailles,  70 

Bissy,  (  Jardinai  de,  423 

Blois,  Mademoiselle  de.  104 

Boerhave  (celebrated  Dutch  surgeon),  318,  343 

Boileau,  95  ;  and  the  Louvre,  207 

Bois-Guillebert,  Lieut. -General,  253 

Bolingbroke,  Countess  of.  145 

Bonard  (sorcerer),  129 


462 


INDEX 


Bonnart,  15 

Bossuet  (Bishop  of  Meaux),  293-296  ;  and  Fénelon, 
Archbishop  of  Cambray,  434-440  ;  in  praise  of 
Louis  XIV.,  42,  43 

Boucherat,  M.,  36 

Bouchot,  M.,  of  the  Bibliothèque  Nationale,  16 

Boudin,  doctor  named,  161,  162 

Bouillon,  Cardinal  de,  437,  440,  442-445 

Bouillon,  Duc  de,  28,  369,  370 

Bouillon,  Duchesse  de,  127,  128 

Boulainvillers,  Comte  de,  128 

Boulle,  furniture  by,  334 

Boulogne,  Bon  (painter),  327 

Boulogne,  Louis  (painter),  327 

Bourbon,  Duc  de,  161 

Bourdaloue,  Père,  78,  293-297 

Bourdon,  S.  (painter),  xiv.,  325 

Bourgogne,  Duc  de,  146,  152,  157,  232,  420,  438  ; 

his  death,  161  ;  and  La  Fontaine,  304 
Bourgogne,  Duchesse  de,  Louis  XIV.  and,  151,  152, 

155-161,  186,  301 
Bourignon,  Antoinette,  417 
Bourlie,  Abbé  de  la,  389 
Brest,  marine  arsenal  built  at,  227 
Bretagne,  Duc  de,  152 
Brigode,  priest  named,  416 
Brillac,  M.,  36 

Brinvilliers,  Marquise  de,  126 
Britannicus,  the  tragedy  of,  100 
Brousson,  Claude,  386,  389 
Buckingham,  Duke  of  (poet),  336 
Burnet,  Bishop,  337 
Bussi,  Comte  de,  96-98 
Buzanval,  Bishop  of  Beauvais,  409 


CADETS,  companies   of,    established    by  Louis 
XIV.,  215,  218 
Calvinism  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  174,  365-394. 

405  ;  Mlle.  d'Aubigné  and,  139 
Calvinists,  and  the  secret  of  tin  and  steel,  202 
Cambray,  see  of,  351  ;  archbishop  of,  see  Fénelon. 
Camisards,  the  (White  Shirts),  394-396 
Campra  (musician),  323 
Canada,  France  and,  231 
Canal  of  Languedoc,  208 
Canillac,  Marquis  de,  162,  163 
Carlos  II.  of  Spain,  his  wife,  131,  132 
Carpets,  manufacture  of,  in  France,  201,  202 
Cassini,  Domenico,  285,  286 
Caulet,  Bishop  of  Pamiers,  357,  358,  409 
Caumartin,  M.  de,  32  ;  and  the  Chevalier  de  Rohan, 
237-239 

Caumont,  Comte  de  Lauzun,  109-116 
Cavalier,  Jean,  in  the  Cevennes,  391-393 
Cavalry  in  the  French  army,  1683,  218 
Cayenne,  French  colony  at,  231  ;  physicists  sent  to, 
in  1672,  286 


Caze,  Pierre  J.  (painter),  326 
Census-taking  in  Languedoc,  232 
Cerle,  monk  named,  358 
Cette,  harbour  of,  208 

Cevennes,  fanaticism  of  the,  288,  384-386,  389-396 
Chaila,  Abbé  du,  389 
Chàlons,  Bishop  of,  435 

Chamillart,  Minister,  20,  182  ;  loans  raised  by,  269- 
271 

Champagne,  Philippe  de,  332  ;  portrait  by,  22n 
Chanvallon,  Harlay  de,  Archbishop  of  Paris,  138 
Chapelain,  95 

Charles  IL,  the  Court  of,  45  ;  Louis  XIV,  227  ; 
founds  the  Royal  Society,  284  ;  poets  of  the  reign 
of,  336 

Charost,  Duchesse  de,  434 

Charpentier,  174 

Chartres,  Duc  de,  136,  137 

Château  of  Versailles,  the,  description  of,  66 

Chauveau  (painter  and  engraver),  xiv,  xv,  329 

Chesilden  (London  surgeon,  1715),  317 

Chevreuse,  Duchesse  de,  137,  433,  434 

Chevreuse,  Duc  de,  437 

Chigi,  Cardinal,  at  Versailles,  65 

Choisy,  Abbé  de,  xiii,  14,  145,  199  ;  and  Mademoi- 
selle de  la  Vallière,  103 

Chomel,  the  preacher,  376 

Christian  Church  has  always  been  rent  by  dissensions, 
365-368 

Church  of  France,  affairs  of  the,  during  reign  of 

Louis  XIV.,  349-363 
Civil  wars  in  France,  369-372 
Clagny,  built  by  Louis  XIV.,  251 
Claude,  Bishop  of  Turin,  366,  410 
Clement  VIII.,  Pope,  400 
Clement  IX.,  the  "Peace  of,"  410 
Clement  XL,  Pope,  415,  416,  418,  422-423 
Clergy  in  France,  349-363 
Clockmakers,  331 

Cloths,  made  at  Abbeville,  201  ;  at  Sedan,  202 

Cluny,  Abbey  of,  374 

Coaches,  first  made  in  Paris,  208 

Coëtquen,  Madame  de,  122 

Coinage  of  France  altered,  264,  209 

Colasse  (musician),  323 

Colbert,  Edouard  de,  254 

Colbert,  J.  B.  de,  Louis  XIV.  and,  25,  26,  28,  90, 
137,  193,  231  ;  arms  of,  27  ;  verses  against,  31,  33  ; 
Guéne'gaud  and,  33  ;  excessive  severity  of,  towards 
Fouquet,  34-36  ;  M.  de  Pomponne  and,  62,  63  ; 
on  Louvois,  64  ;  pensions  and  presents  distributed 
by  on  behalf  of  Art  and  Letters,  94-96  ;  and  the 
commerce  of  France,  198-200  ;  and  public  build- 
ings in  Paris,  206-7,  250  ;  and  the  Observatory, 
250  ;  and  the  finances  of  France,  253-262,  269,  272  ; 
gets  Louis  XIV.  to  sanction  the  establishment  of  an 
Academy  of  Sciences,  285  ;  founds  an  Academy  of 
Architecture  in  1671,  312  ;  also  an  Academy  of 
Painting,  313  ;  and  the  employment  of  Huguenots, 
372-374 


INDEX 


463 


Collineau  (gardener),  330 

Colonies  of  France  in  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  231 
Colonne,  a  Constable  of  France,  4 
Colonne,  breach  between  Louis  XIV.  and,  46 
Comedy  in  the  early  years  of  Louis  XIV.,  15  ;  see 

also  Molière 
Comet  in  1680,  288 
Commerce  of  France,  198,  199 
Compagnie  des  Grandes  Indes,  199 
Compagnie  des  Indes  Occidentales,  the,  199 
Compagnie  du  Nord,  199 
Compiègne,  French  army  at,  217,  225 
Condé,  Prince  de,  47-49,  52,  65,  92,  300  ;  marriage 

of  his  granddaughter,  136  ;  death  of,   137  ;  and 

"  Cinna,"  300,  301 
Congreve,  plays  by,  338,  339 
Conrart,  293 

Conspiracy  of  La  Truaumont  in  1674,  the,  237-239 
Conspiracy  to  .seize  the  Duc  de  Lerwick.  393 
Conti,  Prince  Armand  de,  106 
Conti,  Princess  de,  157 

"  Convulsionnaires,"  episodes  of  the,  428-430 

Corneille,  Pierre,  15,  IS,  190  ;  the  tragedy  of 
"Bérénice,"  46;  tragedies  of,  299-302;  "The 
Cid,"  by,  300,  301;  "Polyeucte,"  by,  300; 
"  Cinna,"  by,  300 

Corn-merchants  in  France,  260,  261 

Costar,  95 

Cotin,  95 

Council  of  Commerce,  the,  198 

Court  of  the  Edict,  the,  368 

Courtiers  of  Louis,  87,  88 

Coustou  (sculptor),  329 

Coysevox  (sculptor),  xiv,  329,  332-334 

Créqui,  Duc  de,  193 

Croissy,  M.  Colbert  de,  254 


D'AGUESSEAU  (the  Procurator  General),  424, 
444 

D'Alembert,  331 

Dance,  the  ;  Louis  XIV.  and,  16 

Dangeau,  Marquis  de,   xiii,  45,  69  ;  at  Versailles, 

72-74,  81  ;  memoirs  compiled  by,  132,  133 
D'Aquin,  the  King's  physician,  1  m 

I  ('Argencourl .   Mademoiselle,  3 

I  >'Arpajou,  1  >uchesse,  9] 

D'Aubigné  family,  the,  13S,  139 

D'Aubigné,  Comte,  144,  149  ;  Mademoiselle,  153 

D'Aubray,  Civil  Lieutenant,  126,  406 

1  >audé,  man  named,  393 

I  (auger,  Eustache,  22 

D'Aumale,  Due,  made  King  of  Spain,  182-185 

Dauphin,  the.  76  ;  baptism  of,  85 

Dauphine,  the  (Duchesse  de  Bourgogne),  150,  155-161 

D'Avaux,  priest  named,  130 

Débonnaire,  Louis  le,  353 

De  Harlay,  Public  Prosecutor,  362 


De  Mesme,  425 

Descartes,  283,  284 

De  Serre,  Huguenot  named,  385 

Desjardins,  xiv  ;  busts  by,  334 

Desmarets,  Godet  (Bishop  of  Chartres),  146 

Desmarets,  Comptroller  General,  271 

Desportes  (artist),  328 

Despréaux,  Boileau,  96,  190,  303,  305 

Destouches  (musician),  323 

Desvieux,  Mademoiselle,  294 

De  Thou,  President,  291 

De  Troy,  François  (painter),  327,  328 

Diderot,  331 

Dorbay,  207,  330 

D'Orléans,  Due  (Regent),  sec  Orleans 

D'Ormesson  :  on  the  excessive  severity  of  Colbert 

towards  Fouquet,  34-36  ;  on  Mademoiselle  de  la 

Vallière,  103 
Dorset,  Earl  of  (poet),  336 
Douai,  artillery  school  at,  215 
Douvrier,  antiquarian  named,  48 
Drevet  (engraver),  329 
Dryden,  John,  336,  338 
Dubois,  Cardinal,  425,  429 
Dubos,  Abbé,  307 
Duchange  (engraver),  329 
Duché,  tragedies  by,  151 
Duchesse  d'Aiguillon,  198 

Duelling,  abolition  of,  by  Louis  XIV..  212.  213 
Dufresnoi,  Madame,  106 
Duhauranne,  Duvergier,  405 
Duiller,  Fatio,  393 

Dunkirk,  port  of,  198,  199  ;  added  to  France,  56  ; 

marine  arsenal  at,  227 
Duperron,  Cardinal,  352-354 
Dupin  (sorceress),  129,  130 

Duplessis,  M.,  of  the  Bibliothèque  Nationale,  xvi. 
Duquesne.   Lieut.-Oeneral,   founds  a  French  colon}* 

at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  382 
Duras,  Duc  de,  66 

Dutch,  the  commerce  of,  198  ;   take  Pondicherry, 
199  ;  fleet  of,  at  the  battle  of  La  Hogue,  228 


EDELINCK  (engraver),  xiv,  329,  334 
Edict  of  Grace,  the,  371 
Edict  of  Nantes,  136,  368  ;  revoked  in  1685,  380, 
390,  394 

Eloquence  of  French  divines,  292-296 
Enghien,  Due  d',  47 

England,  religion  and  philosophy  in,  339,  340  ;  the 
Fine  Arts  in,  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV., 
336-242 

English  fleet  at  the  battle  of  La  Hogue,  228 
Engravers  in  France  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV., 

xiv,  xv,  328-330 
Epernon,  Due  d',  214 
Esther,  composed  by  Racine,  150,  151 
Estrades,  Comte  d',  227 


464 


INDEX 


Estrèes,  Cardinal  d',  437 

Estrèes,  Jean  d',  first  Naval  Marshal  of  France,  228 
Europe,   the   Fine   Arts   in,    during   the   time  of 

Louis  XIV.,  335-345 
Exili,  Italian  named,  125-127 


FANATICISM  in  the  Cévennes,  389-394 
Felix,  Louis  XIV.  's  physician,  150 
Fénelon,  Archbishop  of  Cambray,   296,   414,  420  ; 
and  Madame  Guyon,  433-438  ;  Louis  XIV.  and, 
439-443;   "  Télémaque  "  by,  295-299,  439,  440, 
443 

Fenelon,  Marquis  de,  296,  441 

Fêtes  at  Versailles,  49-56,  65,  75-78,  82-3 

Feuillade,  Marshal  de  la,  20 

Fiesque,  Madame  de,  116 

Finances  of  France  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV., 
253-280 

Fine  arts,  the,  in  France  during  the  reign  of  Louis 
XIV.,  311-334  ;  in  Europe  during  the  same  period, 
335-345 

Fistula,  Louis  XIV.  attacked  with,  149,  150 

Flanders,  Louis  XIV.  in,  1670,  119,  120 

Fléchier  (Bishop  of  Nîmes),  95,  292 

Fleet  of  the  French  Navy  under  Louis  XIV. ,  227, 2  28 

Fleury,  Cardinal  de,  140,  228,  274,  280,  361,  429,  439 

Fontainebleau,  xvi.,  26,  81,  83  ;  Louis  XIV.  at,  7, 

25  ;  the  Duke  of  Orleans  and  his  wife  at,  24  ; 

hunting  at,  40 
Fontauges,  Duchesse  de,  Louis  XIV.  and,  134-136 
Fontenelles,  Madame  de,  116,  289 
Fonte vrault,  Mademoiselle  de,  118 
Fortification,  the  art  of,  Louis  XIV.  and,  215,  216 
Fountains  in  Paris,  330 

Fouquet,  Superintendent,  25,  28  ;  supposed  to  have 
been  the  Man  in  the  Iron  Mask,  21  ;  hospitality  of, 
26,  27  ;  and  the  finances  of  France,  28,  31,  32,  90  ; 
death  of,  33  ;  excessive  severity  of  Colbert  towards, 
34-36  ;  meets  Comte  de  Lauzun  in  prison,  110  ; 
and  Lebrun  the  painter,  325 

France,  opera  in,  18  ;  Fouquet  and  the  finances  of, 
28,  31,  32  ;  the  arts  in,  at  the  birth  of  the  Great 
Century,  37  ;  the  crime  of  poison  in,  125-131  ; 
measles  in,  161  ;  the  internal  government  of,  197, 
198  ;  hospitals  in,  198  ;  roads  in,  198  ;  commerce 
and  colonies  of,  198-201  ;  manufactures  in,  201, 
202,  205  ;  laws  of,  reformed  by  Louis  XIV.,  211, 
•212;  duelling  abolished  in,  212,  213;  reforms  in 
the  army  of,  213-226  ;  also  the  navy  of,  226-231  ; 
colonies  of,  231  ;  extent  and  population  of,  1698, 
231-2  ;  Colbert  and  the  finances  of,  253-262,  269, 
272  ;  famine  in  1661,  260  ;  coinage  of,  altered,  264, 
269  ;  the  winter  of  1709  in,  271  ;  vine-growing  in, 
276  ;  peasants  of,  278-280  ;  the  sciences  in,  283- 
289  ;  sorcery  and  superstition  in,  287,  288  ;  the 
literature  of,  during  the  century  of  Louis  XIV., 
291-309  ;  the  fine  arts  in,  during  the  same  period, 


311-334  ;  medicines  and  surgery  in,  317-8  ; 
musicians  in,  during  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  321-323  ; 
painters  in,  323-328,  332-4  ;  sculptors,  architects, 
and  engravers  in,  328-334  ;  public  works  in,  330  ; 
art  of  making  gardens  in,  330  ;  ecclesiastical  affairs 
in,  during  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  349-363  ;  Cal- 
vinism in,  365-394  ;  civil  wars  in,  369-372  ;  revolt 
in  the  Cevennes,  394-396  ;  Jansenism  in,  397-430  ; 
Quietism  in,  431-446 

French  fleet  defeated  at  La  Hogue,  228 

Fronde,  the,  363,  372 

Fusiliers,  regiment  of,  in  1671,  215 


GALILEO,  344 
Gallican  Church,  liberties  of  the,  354-363 
Games  at  the  Court  of  Louis  XIV.,  78 
Garde-Meuble,  the,  xvi. 
Gardens,  art  of  making,  in  France,  330 
Gassendi,  289 

Gelée,  Claude  (painter),  326 
Genest,  Abbé,  151 

Genoa,  the  Doge  of,  entertained  by  Louis  XIV.  at 

Versailles,  65-69 
Geometry,  343 
Gerberon,  Benedictine,  416 
Germain,  Pierre  (goldsmith),  329 
Giannone  on  the  Church  of  France,  351 
Gigeri,  French  naval  force  at,  226 
Giori,  Italian  named,  and  Cardinal  Bouillon,  442,  443 
Girardon,  F.  (sculptor),  329 
Giraudière,  Mademoiselle  de  la  (nurse).  1 1 
Glaser,  German  named,  125 

Gobelins,  the,  xvi.  ;  tapestries  made  at  the.  201-203 
Goldsmiths  in  France,  329 

Gomarists,  the,  quarrel  with  the  Arminians,  405 
Gondrin,  Marquis  de,  161 

Gourville,  25,  31,  33  ;  and  the  Calvinists,  380,  381 
Gown,  description  of  a,  by  Madame  de  Sévigné,  73,  74 
Grammont,  Comte  de,  52,  114,  191,  214 
Graziani,  Count,  94 

Guénégaud  (Secretary  of  State),  25  ;  sells  his  post  to 

Colbert,  33 
Guérard,  famous  caricature  by,  xv. 
Guiche,  Comte  de,  24,  99,  114  ;  Madame  de,  42 
Guiscard,  Marquis  de,  389 
Guise,  Duc  de,  28,  47 
Guitou,  Mayor  of  La  Rochelle,  370,  371 
Guyon,  Madame,  432-438 


HABERT,  a  doctor  named,  401 
Halley,  the  philosopher,  340,  341 
Hamelin  (nurse),  11 
Harcourt,  Princesse  d',  433 
Harlay,  Archbishop  de,  433 


INDEX 


465 


Harley,  Robert  (Earl  of  Oxford),  389 

Hauranne,  Duverger  de  (Abbé  de  St.  Cyran),  400 

Havre,  marine  arsenal  at,  227 

Hazon,  merchant  named,  200 

Henri  IV.,  Antonio  Perez,  354 

Henrietta,  Princess,  married  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
18,  24,  25,  152  ;  Louis  XIV.  and,  44-47  ;  her 
death,  120-123 

Herman,  413 

Hervart,  Calvinist  named,  372 

Hervart,  Madame,  376 

Hervey,  Lord,  and  Voltaire,  345,  346 

Hesnault,  verses  written  by,  against  Colbert,  31,  33 

Hevelius  (astronomer),  342 

Hochstedt,  battle  of,  392 

Homberg  (chemist  named),  162 

Hortense,  Duchesse,  32 

Hospitals  in  France,  198 

Hôtel  des  Invalides,  Louis  XIV.  and  the,  208,  216, 
218,  249 

Hôtel  de  Ville,  312  ;  in  1687,  235 
Houdar,  La  Motte,  304,  305 

Household  Order,  a,  established  by  Louis  XIV.,  88 
Huguenots,  the,  in  France,  151,  239,  368-373,  376-8, 
397 

Huygens,  the  mathematician,  94,  285 
Hyde,  339 


IDLER  in  Paris,  the,  La  Bruyère  and,  247-249 
île  de  Ste.  Marguerite,  19,  20 
Infantry  of  the  French  army  in  time  of  Louis  XIV., 

214,  215 
Innocent  X.,  Pope,  357,  402,  403 
Innocent  XL,  (Odelscalchi),  357,  361-363,  378 
Innocent  XII.,  Pope  (Pignatelli),  362,  363,  436 
Invalides,  the  Chapel  of  the,  xv. 
Instrumental  music  in  France,  321 
Italian  operas  in  Paris,  1646  and  1654,  16,  17 
Italy,  the  fine  arts  in,  during  the  time  of  Louis  XIV., 
344 


JAMKS  I.,  and  Cardinal  Duperron,  354 
Jansen,  Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Ypres,  400-406 
Jansenists,  the,  and  Jansenism  in  France,  15,  16, 
357-361,  373,  374,  397-430  ;  Louis  XIV.  and,  172 
Jardin  des  Plantes,  the,  286 

Jesuits,  the,  in  France,  355,  372  ;  and  the  Jansenists, 

399-403,  407-8,  413,  415-19 
Jewels  of  the  Crown,  Cardinal  Mazarin  and,  1 7 
Joseph,  the  famous  Capuchin  monk,  372 
Jouvenet,  Jean  (painter),  326,  327 
Jurien,  Pierre  (Calvinist  minister),  383-385 


j^ÉROUAL,  Mademoiselle  do  (La  Que'rouaille), 


LA    BRUYERE,    xiii.,    xv.,    42;  on  Versailles 
society  in  his  "Caractères,"  83,  84  ;  satire  ofi 
on  Paris  and  the  Parisian  bourgeoisie,  243-246  ;  his 
description  of  a  series  of  sights  and  diversions  in 
Paris,  247-249  ;  and  the  labouring  classes  of  France, 
278,  280  ;  "  Les  Caractères  "  by,  297,  298 
Lace-making  in  France,  201,  202 
La  Chaise,  Père  de,  138,  416-41  '   1  J-438 
Lacombe,  monk  named,  432,  43« 
Lafayette,  Madame  de,  xiii.,  22,  25,  42,  121 
La  Feuillade,  Maréchal  de,  192 

La  Fontaine,  303,  304,  308  ;  and  Mlle,  de  la  Vallière, 
104,  105 

La  Fosse,  Charles  de  (painter),  327 
La  Frette,  notorious  combat  of,  213 
La  Hogue,  battle  of,  228 

Lamoignon,  M.  de  (Master  of  Requests),  174,  211, 
232 

Land  forces  of  France  formed  by  Louis  XIV.,  213- 
226 

Land  taxes,  234 

L'Angeli  (a  Court  fool),  52 

Langlée,  Comtesse,  73 

Languedoc,  Canal  of,  208  ;  census-taking  in,  232  ;  the 
Intendant  of,  376  ;  rebellion  and  fanaticism  in,  384, 
389-396 

Languet,  Bishop  of  Soissons,  426 
Lansac,  Marquise  de,  7 

Laporte,  valet  of  Louis  XIV.,  xiii.,  5-8,  12,  14 

La  Quiutinie  (gardener),  330 

La  Reynie,  of  the  Star  Chamber,  128 

La  Rochefoucauld,  Duc  de,  173  ;  "  Maxims  "  by,  293 

La  Rochelle,  the  siege  of,  370 

La  Samaritaine,  212 

La  Trappe,  reform  of,  240 

La  Trémouille,  368,  444 

La  Truaumont,  the  conspiracy  of,  237-239 

Lauzun,  Comte  de  (PuyguilhenO,  109-116 

Lauzun,  Duc  de,  100 

Lavallière,  xiii. 

Law,  the  profession  of  the,  in  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  240 
Laws  of  France,  reformed  by  Louis  XIV.,  211,  212 
Le  Balafré,  47 

Lebrun,  Charles  (painter),  xiii.,  174,  264,  312,  325, 
326,  333,  334 

Lecamus,  Cardinal,  Bishop  of  G  renoble,  375 

Leclerc,  S.  (engraver),  xiv.,  xv.,  329 

Le  Dauphiné,  the  Huguenots  in,  376 

Lefebvre,  CI.  (painter),  xiv.,  334 

Le  Gros  (sculptor),  328,  329  ;  medals  by,  334 

Leibnitz,  famous  scholar,  342,  343,  345 

"  Le  Journal  des  Savants  "  (first  newspaper),  286 

Le  Lorrain,  Claude  (painter),  326 

"Le  Mercure  de  France,"  xiii.;  description  of 
Versailles  in,  65,  66,  69;  on  the  "grands 
appartements,"  70-72  ;  on  the  balls  at  Versailles,  75 

Le  Moine  (painter),  313,  328 

Le  Nôtre  (gardener),  xiii.,  136,  330  ;  gardens  at  Vaux 

planted  by,  26 
Léonardon,  M. ,  of  the  Versailles  Library,  xvi. 

3  O 


466 


INDEX 


Le  Pelletier,  263 

Le  Sage,  priest  named,  127-131 

Lesdiguières,  370 

Les  Noces  de  Thetis,  opera,  15 

Le  Sueur,  Eustaehe  (painter),  312,  325 

Le  Tellier,  Michel,  the  Chancellor,  31,  33,  145,  165, 

263,  374,  375,  381,  419-425 
Letters,  Louis  XIV.  bestows  his  bounty  upon  art  and, 

96,  97 

Le  Valentin  (painter),  325 
Levau,  Louis,  207,  330 
Levi,  Madame  de,  157 
Liancourt,  M.  de,  403. 

Lingendes,  Jean  de  (Bishop  of  Macon),  292. 
Listenay,  Madame  de,  161. 

Literature  of  France  during  the  century  of  Louis  XIV. , 

291-309. 
Locke,  John,  341,  342. 
Loir,  medals  by,  xiv. 
Longueville,  Duchesse  de,  122,  413. 
Lorraine,  Chevalier  de,  122,  125. 
Lottery,  a,  with  no  blanks,  137,  143. 
Louis  XII.,  motto  of,  49. 

Louis  XIII.,  5  ;  and  Anne  of  Austria,  11  ;  and 
dancing,  16  ;  the  clergy  in  the  reign  of,  363  ;  the 
siege  of  La  Rochelle,  370. 

Louis  XIV.,  birth  of,  11,  128  ;  youth  and  education 
of,  under  Cardinal  Mazarin,  3-14  ;  a  foretaste  of  his 
quality,  14,  15  ;  as  a  dancer,  16,  17  ;  his  marriage, 
17,  18  ;  works  privately  with  Colbert,  25  ;  in 
person  and  manner  at  the  birth  of  the  great 
century,  37-44  ;  fondness  for  stag-hunting,  40,  60  ; 
and  Princess  Henrietta  of  England,  44-47  ;  takes 
part  in  a  tournament  in  front  of  the  Tuileries,  1662, 
47-49  ;  motto  of,  48,  50  ;  fêtes  at  Versailles, 
49-56  ;  Voltaire  on  the  government  of,  56,  57  ; 
advice  to  the  Dauphin,  57,  58  ;  daily  routine  of  the 
king's  life,  58-62  ;  entertains  the  Doge  of  Genoa  at 
Versailles,  65-69  ;  Court  life  at  Versailles,  70-91  ; 
fondness  for  gaming,  77,  78  ;  his  liberality,  89-96  ; 
bestows  his  bounty  upon  art  and  letters,  95-97  ; 
the  manners  and  habits  of  the  King  and  the  Court, 
99,  163  ;  his  attachment  to  Mademoiselle  de  la 
Vallière,  99-101  ;  in  Flanders,  1670,  119,  120  ;  on 
the  poisoning  of  Marie  Louise  D'Orléans,  132  ;  and 
the  Duchesse  de  Fontanges,  134,  135  ;  marries 
Madame  de  Maintenon,  138  -149  ;  attacked  with 
fistula,  149,  150  ;  loses  all  his  family  by  premature 
deaths,  152  ;  and  the  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne,  152, 
155-161,  186  ;  his  old  age  and  death,  165-194  ;  his 
dying  counsel,  171 — 173  ;  some  sayings  of,  174, 
177  ;  character  of,  177-181  ;  instructions  to  his 
grandson,  Philip  V.,  182-185  ;  witticisms  by,  189  ; 
letters  to  the  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  189,  190  ;  and 
Villiers-Vendôme,  191  ;  the  Due  d'Antin,  191, 
192  ;  accused  of  intolerable  pride,  192,  193  ;  his 
children  who  died  in  infancy,  194  ;  the  ministers 
of,  195-198  ;  and  the  internal  government  of 
France,  197,  198  ;  tax  remitted  by,  198  ;  and  the 
commerce  of  France,  198,  199,  202  ;  appoints 


magistrate  of  police,  205  ;  builds  part  of  the  Louvre 
and  other  places,  205-208  ;  reforms  the  laws,  211, 
212  ;  forbids  duels,  212,  213  ;  reforms  the  army, 
213-226  ;  and  the  navy,  226-231  ;  statue  to,  at 
Montpellier,  234  ;  his  neglect  of  Paris,  250,  251  ; 
the  finances  of  France  during  the  reign  of,  253-278  ; 
amount  of  money  spent  by,  when  King,  272  ; 
founds  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  285-286  ;  re-opens 
the  School  of  Law,  286  ;  the  literature  during  tbe 
reign  of,  291-309  ;  the  fine  arts  in  the  reign  of, 
311,  334  ;  and  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  France,  349- 
363  ;  Calvinism  in  the  time  of,  365-396  ;  and 
Jansenism,  397-430  ;  and  Quietism,  431-446  ;  and 
Fénelon,  Archbishop  of  Cambray,  439-443  ;  Lex  una 
sub  uno  the  motto  of  the  reign  of,  446 

Louis  XV.,  152,  161  ;  roads  in  France  under,  198  ; 
revenue  of,  compared  to  that  of  Louis  XIV. ,  273 

Louvois,  Marquis  de  (Secretary  of  State),  19,  106, 
114,  151,  190,  231  ;  Spanheim's  testimony  to,  63, 
64  ;  Colbert  on,  64  ;  and  Marshal  Montmorenci- 
Boutteville,  130,  131  ;  and  Madame  de  Maintenon, 
145,  146  ;  and  the  French  Army,  217-221  ;  Saint 
Simon's  indictment  of,  221  ;  and  buildings  in  Paris 
due  to,  249,  250  ;  and  the  Huguenots,  374  ;  and 
the  Calvinists,  380,  382 

Louvre,  the,  193,  194,  312  ;  portraits  at  the,  xiv.  ; 
Italian  Opera  at  the,  17,  18  ;  colonnade  of,  100  ; 
F.  Mansard  and,  206,  207 

Louvre  Theatre,  the,  330 

Luçon,  the  Bishop  of,  293 

Lulli,  Jean  Baptiste  (musician),  96,  311,  322,  323 
Lutherans,  the,  367,  374  ;  of  Alsace,  377 
Luxembourg,  Maréchal  de,  128 
Luynes,  Constable  de,  370 
Lyonne,  de  (Secretary  of  State),  17,  18,  94 
Lyons,  stuffs  made  at,  202  ;  statue  of  Louis  XIV.  at, 
238,  317 


MADAGASCAR,  French  colony  at,  231 
Maffei,  Scipio,  344,  346 
Mailly,  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  426 
Maine,  Duc  du,  74,  113,  116,  166  ;  marriage  of,  136, 

137,  140,  143 
Maine,  Duchesse  du,  151 

Maintenon,  Madame  de,  Louis  XIV.  and,  25,  117, 
134,  136-138,  140,  143  ;  retirement  of,  144  ;  her 
possessions,  145  ;  and  Racine,  145  ;  Louvois  and, 
146  ;  retires  to  Saint  Cyr,  149-151  ;  the  Duchesse 
de  Bourgogne  and,  155,  156  ;  Louis  XIV.  and, 
168  ;  and  a  nun  in  the  Convent  of  Moret,  194  ; 
and  the  revolt  in  the  Cevennes,  325  ;  and  Cardinal 
de  Noailles,  419-421  ;  and  Madame  Guyon,  433- 
436  ;  and  Père  de  La  Chaise,  438 

Maintenon  aqueducts  and  works,  the,  233 

Maisonfort,  Madame  de  la,  149,  433,  438 

Male'zieu,  M.  de,  298,  439 

Malherbe,  299 


INDEX 


467 


Mail  in  the  Iron  Mask,  the,  19-22,  and  n 
Mancini,  Marie,  4,  5 
Manger,  medals  by,  xiv. 

Mansard,  François  (architect),  329  ;  and  the  Louvre, 
206,  207. 

Mansard,  Jules  H.  (surveyor),  329,  350 
Mantua,  Duke  of,  22 

Manufactures  of  France  during  reign  of  Louis  XIV., 
201,  202 

Marais,  Godet  des,  Bishop  of  Chartres,  434,  439 
Marie  Thérèse,  wife  of  Louis  XIV.,  17,  18,  23 
Marine  arsenals  in  France,  227 
Marly,  built  by  Louis  XIV.,  208,  237,  250,  251 
Marly,  81,  82  ;  fountains  at,  26  ;  pavilions  at,  built 

in  1679,  88  ;  fêtes  at,  136 
Marot,  306  ;  psalms  of,  373 
Marriages  in  the  rural  districts  of  France,  200 
Marsan,  Comte  de,  125 
Marseilles,  port  of,  198,  199 
Marsham,  339 
Martinique,  231 

Massi  (ambassador)  on  Louis  XIV.,  43 
Masillon,  Père,  293 

Mattioli,  the  Man  in  the  Iron  Mask,  21,  22 

Mazarin,  Cardinal,  350,  356,  372,  403,  408  ;  and  the 
young  King,  4-11,  14,  34;  and  Italian  opera,  16, 
17  ;  the  Crown  jewels,  17  ;  his  death,  18,  23  ;  a 
son  of,  supposed  to  be  the  Man  in  the  Iron  Mask, 
22n  ;  wealth  of,  32  ;  nieces  of,  127  ;  lottery  of, 
137  ;  the  guards  of,  214 

Mazarin,  Duc  de,  32,  114 

Measles  in  France,  161 

Medals,  314  ;  manufacture  of,  333 

Medicine  and  surgery  in  France,  317,  318 

Mellan  (engraver),  xiv.,  329,  334 

M  creator,  342 

Merchant  marine,  the,  in  France,  198 

Merchants,  dress  of  the,  240,  241 

Metz,  artillery  school  at,  215 

Meudon,  Louis  XIV.  at,  81 

Mignard,  Pierre  (painter),  326,  334 

Militia,  regiments  of,  established  by  Louis  XIV.,  215 

Milton,  John,  336,  337 

Mint,  the,  xiv. 

Miracle  at  Port  Royal  of  Paris,  406,  407 
Miracles  of  a  deacon  named  Paris,  429 
Mircmont,  Marquis  de,  34 
Mirrors  first  made  in  Paris  1666,  201,  207,  250 
Molart,  medals  by,  xiv. 

Molière,  302,  303  ;  comedies  of  Fâcheux,  26  ;  La 
Princesse  d'ÊIÀde,  51  ;  Les  Amants  Magnifique»,  51, 
52  ;  Alccste  by,  106  ;  Le  Mariage  Forcé,  52  ;  Le 
Tartufe,  52,  55 

Molinos,  the  Jesuit,  399,  437 

Montagu,  Earl  of,  120 

Montansier,  I  >ue  de,  91 

Montauban,  retreat  of  Louis  XIII.  before,  370 
Monmouth,  Duke  of,  21 
Moiitpensier,  Mademoiselle  de,  109-1 16 
Montespan,  Marquise  de,  116,  119,  135 


Montespan,  Madame  de,  King  Louis  XIV.  and, 
72,  73,  78,  101,  102,  105,  111,  113,  134-137,  140  ; 
and  Puyguilhem,  114-116  ;  and  Madame  Scarron, 
117  ;  her  wit,  118  ;  her  beauty,  120  ;  marriage  of 
her  daughter,  136,  137 

Montmorenci-Boutteville,  F.  Henri  de,  129 

Montmorenci,  Mathieu  de,  131 

Montpellier,  statue  to  Louis  XIV.  at,  234 

Montpezat,  Archbishop  of  Toulouse,  358 

Montrevel,  Maréchal  de,  390 

Moreri,  anecuote  recorded  by,  200 

Moret,  convent  of,  nun  in,  supposed  to  be  a  daughter 
of  Louis  XIV.,  194 

Morillon,  Michel  Baius  and,  399 

Morin  (engraver),  xiv. 

Mdrin  (astrologer),  128 

Mortemart,  the  sisters,  116-118 

Motte,  Jeanne  Bouvier  de  la,  431-433 

Motte,  Maréchale  de  la,  91 

Motteville,  Madame  de,  xiii  ;  Mémoires  of,  16,  38 
Motto  of  Louis  XIV.,  48,  50,  446 
Musicians  in  France,  321-323 


NANTEUIL  (engraver),  xiv.,  329 
Nantes,  Mademoiselle  de,  136,  137 
Navailles,  Duc  de,  100 

Naval  cadets,  corps  of,  instituted  by  Louis  XIV.,  228 
Navy,  Louis  XIV.  reforms  the  French,  226-231 
"Nec  pluribus  impar,"  motto  of  Louis  XIV.,  48,  50 
Neuillant,  Madame  de,  139 
Newspaper,  the  first,  published  in  1665,  286 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  286,  340,  343 
Nicole  (theologian),  410,  413 
Nimeguen,  the  peace  of,  62,  192 

Noailles,  Cardinal  de,  145,  174,  414-425,  430,  435, 
441 

Noailles,  Gaston  Louis  de,  Bishop  of  Chalons,  363 
Nolhac,  M.  P.  de,  of  Versailles,  xvi. 
Nbrdstrand,  Island  of,  417 


OBSERVATORY,  the,  built  by  Louis  XIV.,  208, 
285,  286  ;  due  to  Colbert,  250 
Odelscalchi  (Pope  Innocent  XL),  357,  361-363 
Olbreuse,  Duchess  of,  309 

Opera,  Les  Noces  de  Thétis,  the  first  played  in  Paris,  15 
Operas  executed  by  singers  from  Italy  in  Paris,  1646, 

16  ;  Ercole  Amante,  17  ;  Lysis  and  Hesperia,  18 
Orange,  Prince  of,  regiments  of  French  refugees  in 

army  of  the,  382 
Order  of  Saint  Louis,  instituted  by  Louis  XIV.,  216, 

221 

Orleans,  Duke  of,  brother  of  Louis  XIV.,  7,  13,  14, 
23,  24,  74,  128,  133,  149,  157,  167,  254,  425,  427, 
440  ;  studies  chemistry,  162,  163;  his  marriage,  18, 
24  ;  takes  part  in  a  tournament,  1662,  47 


468 


INDEX 


D'Orléans,  Duchesse,  74,  75,  78,  81 

D'Orléans,    Marie    Louise,     daughter   of  Madame, 

poisoning  of,  131,  132 
Ormesson,  xiii. 
Oudry  (artist),  328 


PAGAN,  Comte  de,  216 
Painters  in  France,  323-328 
Painting,  Academy  of,  founded  by  Colbert,  312 
Palais  du  Luxembourg,  311 
Palais  Mazarin,  32 

Palais  Royal,  the,  312  ;  Italian  operas  at  the,  16 

Palatine,  the  Princess  (Duchesse  D'Orléans),  74,  75, 
78,  81,  133  ;  and  Mademoiselle  de  la  Vallière,  103 

Paris,  mirrors  first  made  in,  201  ;  the  city  in  the  days 
of  Louis  XIV.,  202,  205,  233  ;  police  in,  205,  206  ; 
coaches  made  in,  206  ;  a  picture  of  —  and  the 
Parisian  bourgeoisie,  240-249  ;  neglect  of,  by 
Louis  XIV.,  249-251  ;  Saint-Simon  and  the  embel- 
lishments of,  249,  250  ;  fountains  in,  330 

Paris,  deacon  named,  miracles  of,  429 

Parrocel,  Joseph  (painter),  326 

Pascal,  "Lettres  Provinciales,"  293,  404,  406,  408, 
413 

Passart,  Sister,  409 

Patents  for  nobility  sold  by  Pontchartrain,  266 
Patin,  Guy  (doctor),  162  ;  and  the  peasants  of  France, 
278 

Patau,  Oliver,  292,  293 

Pavilion,  Bishop  of  Aleth,  357,  409 

Peasants  of  France,  278-280 

Pelletier,  M.  de,  steward  to  Anne  of  Austria,  22«, 
36 

Pellisson,  25,  26,  374,  375 
Pepin,  Archbishop  of  Mayence,  356 
Perdreau,  Sister,  409 
Perez,  Antonio,  354 
Perigni,  verses  by,  50 
Pernitz,  Comtesse  de,  132 
Perrault,  Claude,  17,  207,  330 
Perrier,  Mademoiselle,  406,  407 
Petit  Bourbon,  Italian  operas  at  the,  16 
Petit-Bourg,  Louis  XIV.  at,  191,  192 
Philip  V. ,  King  of  Spain,  instructions  of  Louis  XIV. 
to,  182-185 

Philippe  (brother  of  Louis  XIV.),   162,   163.  See 

Orleans,  Duke  of 
Picard,  285 
Picart  (engraver),  329 
Pichon,  Baron  Jérôme,  xvi 
Pignatelli  (Pope  Innocent  XII.),  362,  363 
Pikes  used  in  the  French  army,  215 
Pius  V.,  Pope,  398,  399 
Place  des  Victoires,  buildings  on  the,  193 
Place  du  Carrousel,  the,  47 

Place  Vendôme,  350  ;  statue  of  Louis  XIV.  in  the, 
193 


Plays  in  the  early  years  of  Louis  XIV.,  15,  16 

Plessis-Bellière,  Madame  du,  33 

Poilly  (engraver),  xiv.,  xv.,  329,  334 

Poison,  the  crime  of,  in  France,  125-131 

Poisoning  of  Madame,  the,  120,  121 

Police,  magistrate  of,  appointed  by  Louis  XIV.  in 

1667,  205 
Poll-tax  imposed,  1695,  266 
Pomponne,  M.  de,  182  ;  the  disgrace  of,  62,  63 
Pontchartrain,  Comptroller-General,  266 
Pont  Royal,  the,  249,  251 
Pope,  the  Jansenists  go  over  to  the,  358-362 
Pope's  "  Essay  on  Man,"  336 
Port-Royal  of  Paris,  the  nuns  of,  406,  407,  409 
Porte  Saint- Antoine,  rebuilt,  17 
Portsmouth,  Duchess  of,  120 
Poussin,  Nicolas  (painter),  312,  324,  325 
Préaux,  Chevalier  de,  239 

Protestants,  in  the  Cevennes  revolt  of,  389-396 
Puget,  Pierre  (sculptor),  328,  330-332 
Pussort,  Councillor  of  State,  211 
Puyguilhem,  Comte  de  Lauzun,  109-116 


QUËROUAILLE,  Mademoiselle  de  la,  120 
Queue,  de  la,  194 
Quesnel,  Père,  415-418 
Quietism,  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. ,  431-446 
Quillebeuf,  conspiracy  to  surrender,  to  the  Dutch, 
239 

Quinault,  95,  96,  303,  304,  322,  323  ;  composes  Lysis 
and  Hesperia,  18  ;  prologues  written  by,  190 


RACINE,  95,  96,  301,  302  ;  idyl  of  La  Paix,  136  . 
Madame    de    Maintenon,    145  ;     tragedy  of 
Bérénice,  41,  46  ;  composes  Esther  and  Athalie,  150, 
151,  301 
Rameau  (musician),  323 
Raoux  (painter),  327 

Regalia  of  the  Church  of  France,  355,  360 

Renaudot,  Abbé,  416 

"  Rentes  de  l'Hôtel  de  Ville,"  272,  273 

Retz,  Cardinal  de,  293 

Revenue-farmers,  The,  34-36 

Revenue-farming  in  France,  234,  262,  266 

Reviews  of  the  French  army,  by  Louis  XIV.,  218,  225 

Rheims,  Archbishop  of,  189,  190 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  16,  93,  149,  190,  312,  356,  360  ; 

and  the  Huguenots,  370-372  ;  and  Corneille,  299, 

300 

Rigaud,  Hyacinthe  (painter),  xiv.,  327,  328,  334 
Roads  in  France,  198 

Rochefort,  town  and  port  of,  227  ;  marine  arsenal  at, 
227 

Rochester,  Earl  of  (poet),  336 


INDEX 


469 


Rohan,  Chevalier  de,  execution  of  the,  237-239 
Rohan,  Duc  de,  369-371 
Roémer,  285 

Rome,  the  See  of  ;  the  Church  of  France  and,  354- 

363 
Ronsard,  95 

Roquesante,  judge  named,  33 
Rosny,  368 

Rospigliosi,  Cardinal,  409 

Roujon,  M.  Henry,  Director  of  the  Beaux  Arts,  xvi 
Roupli,  Persian  named,  212 
Rousseau,  305 
Ruyter,  Admiral,  227 

Ryswick,  peace  of,  233  ;  repeal  of  the  poll-tax,  266 


SACY,  DE,  410,  413 
Saint- Aignan,  Duc  de,  93 
Saint-Antoine,  battle  of,  17 
Saint  Cloud,  fountains  at,  26 
Sainte  Croix,  Captain,  126 

Saint-Cyr,   convent  of,   built  in  1686,  146,  208  ; 

Madame  de  Maintenon  retires  to,  149  ;  Racine's 

plays  at,  150,  151 
Saint  Domingo,  231 
Saint-Évremond,  33,  34,  309 

Saint-Germain,  26  ;  abandoned  by  Louis  XIV.,  251 
Saint  Germain  des  Prés,  Abbey  of,  374 
Saint-Jean,  xv. 

Saint-Mars,  governor  of  the  Bastille,  19 
Saint-Médard,  miracles  of,  288 
Saint-Médard,  cemetery  of,  429 
Saint-Père,  Duchesse  de,  133 
Saint  Réal,  Abbé  of,  299 

Saint-Simon,  xiii.,  8  ;  a  portrait  of  Louis  XIV.,  38-40, 
44  ;  on  the  King's  daily  routine,  58-61  ;  on  the  fall 
of  Pomponne,  62,  63  ;  and  the  receptions  ("grande 
appartements  ")  at  Versailles,  70,  71  ;  on  the  fetes 
and  gaming  at  Versailles,  77,  78,  82,  83  ;  on  the 
avarice  of  Louis  XIV.,  92  ;  and  the  Comte  de 
Lauzun,  113-116  ;  and  the  wit  of  Madame  de 
Montespan,  118  ;  and  the  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne, 
156-161  ;  defends  the  Duc  d'Orléans,  163  ;  indict- 
ment of  Louvois  and  the  military  administration  of 
Louis  XIV.,  221-225  ;  on  the  embellishments  of 
Paris,  249-251  ;  and  the  French  peasants,  279,  280  ; 
on  the  Camisards  (White  Shirts),  394-396 

Saint-Simon,  Madame  de,  157 

Sale,  339 

Santerre,  Jean  B.  (painter),  327 
Sarrasin,  Jacques,  328 
Sault,  Comte  de,  48 

Savonnerie,  carpets  made  at  the,  201,  250 

Savoy,  Duke  of,  regiments  of  French  refugees  in 

army  of  the,  382 
Scarron,  Madame  (Madame  de  Maintenon),  117,  143, 

146 

Scarron,  Paul,  139 


Sceaux,  fête  at  the  gardens  of,  136 

School  of  Law,  re- opened  by  Louis  XIV.,  286 

Sciences,  Academy  of,  established  by  Louis  XIV., 

208 

Sciences,  the,  in  France,  283-289 
Scudéry,  Georges  de,  300 
Scudéry,  Mademoiselle,  31 

Sculptors  and  architects  in  France,  328-330,  332-334 
Sculpture  in  France  during  the  seventeenth  century, 
xiv,  314 

Séguier,  Chancellor,  31,  32,  211,  307,  404 
Seiguelay,  Marquis  de,  136,  137 

Sévigné,  Madame  de,  xiii,  31,  42  ;  on  Court  life  at 
Versailles,  72-74  ;  and  the  French  peasants,  279  ; 
on  Racine,  302 

Siam,  Ambassador  of,  received  by  Louis  XIV.,  74 

Silk  manufacture  in  France,  201 

Silver  ornaments  at  Versailles,  69 

Soissons,  Comte  de,  4 

Soissons,  Comtesse  de,  99,  114,  127,  128 

Sonnet  written  by  Hesnault  against  Colbert,  31 

Sorbonne,  the,  349,  402,  423,  425 

Sorcery  in  France,  127-131,  287 

Soubise,  Duc  de,  370 

Soubise,  Mademoiselle  de,  73 

Sourdeac,  Marquis  de,  18 

Souvré,  Madame  de,  7 

Spain,  King  of,  and  Louis  XIV.,  56  ;  death  of  his 
wife,  by  poison,  131,  132  ;  Due  d'Aumale  made 
king  of,  182-185  ;  Louis  XIV.  and,  227  ;  Molinos 
the  Jesuit  in,  399,  404 

Spanheim,  xiii.  ;  on  Louis  XIV.  in  his  youth,  8,  43  ; 
on  the  King's  daily  routine,  61,  62  ;  testimony  to 
Louvois,  63,  64  ;  and  Court  life  under  Louis  XIV., 
39-93  ;  on  Mademoiselle  de  la  Vallière,  102  ;  on  the 
French  forces  in  1690,  217-220 

Spitalfields,  French  refugees  at,  382 

Stag-hunting,  40,  60 

Stair,  the  Earl  of,  167 

Star  Chamber,  in  Paris,  126-129 

Strasburg,  artillery  school  at,  215  ;  See  of,  351  ; 
Louis  XIV.  in  possession  of,  377 

Sully,  Duc  de,  200,  254,  262 

Sun-king,  arms  of  the,  50,  51 

Superstition  in  France,  288 

Surgery  in  France,  318 

Swift,  Dean,  337,  340 


TAILLE,"  The,  270 
Taiue,  M. ,  on  Court  life  at  Versailles,  87 
Talon,  Attorney-General,  211,  362 
Tapestry  made  in  France,  201 
Taphanel,  M.,  of  the  Versailles  Library,  xvi 
Taxes  of  the  Chamber  of  Justice,  36  ;  remitted  in 
1662,  56  ;  remitted  by  Louis  XIV.,  198  ;  imposed 
by  Colbert,  261,  272 
Tax-farmers,  266 


470 


INDEX 


"  Télérnaque  "  by  Fénelon,  295-299.   See  also  Fénelon 
Temple,  Sir  William,  341,  342 
Tencin,  Cardinal  de,  427,  429 
Théodon  (sculptor),  328 
Thianges,  Marquise  de,  117,  118,  137 
Thomas,  the  great  (Parisian  quack),  269,  271 
Thoyras,  Rapin  de,  309 
Toilet  of  the  ladies  at  Court,  88,  89 
Toulon,  marine  arsenal  at,  227  ;  ships  in  harbour  of, 
228 

Toulouse,  Comte  de,  74,  166 

Tournament  in  the  courtyard  of  the  Tuileries,  1662, 
47-49  ;  in  1665,  49,  50  ;  at  Versailles  in  1656, 

136 

Tournefort,  286 
Tours,  stuffs  made  at,  202 
Tragedies,  Pierre  Corneille's,  15 
Training  schools  for  soldiers,  219-221 
Tremouille,  Duc  de  la,  161 
Tremouille,  Mademoiselle  de,  25 

Trianon,  82  ;  fêtes  at,  136  ;  built  by  Louis  XIV., 

208,  250,  251 
Tronson,  Abbé,  435 

Troops,  Louis  XIV.  and  the,  58  ;  in  France,  1672, 

216,  217 
Tuby  (sculptor),  xiv,  334 

Tuileries,  tournament  in  front  of  the,  1662,  47-49 
Turenne,  Vicomte  de,  122,  292 


■  TNIOENITUS,  Papal  Bull,  423,  427 

Usteriz,  Don,  a  Spanish  statesman,  on  Louis 
XIV.,  234 


VALENTINOIS,  Madame  de,  24 
Vallière,  Mademoiselle  de  la,  26,  47  ;  Louis 
XIV.  and,  50,  99-106  ;  her  beauty,  103,  104 
Vanbrugh,  plays  by,  338 
Van  Clève  (sculptor),  xiv,  332 
Vanloo  (painter),  328 
Vardes,  Marquis  de,  99,  100 
Varin,  J.    See  Warm 

Vauban,  and  fortifications  in  France,   216  ;   on  the 

peasants  of  France,  in  Oisei-etés,  279,  280 
Vaugelas,  292 
Vautier  (physician),  12 

Vaux,  fête  given  at,  by  Colbert  to  Louis  XIV.,  25, 

36  ;  fountains  at,  26 
Vaux,  Comtesse  de,  33 
Vendôme,  Duc  de,  190 
Vermandois,  Duc  de,  21,  106 


Verneuil,  Duc  de,  350 

Versailles,  xiii,  81,  134,  135,  138,  193,  250,  251  ; 
portraits  and  sculpture  at,  xiv  ;  fountains  at,  26  ; 
fêtes  at,  49-56,  65,  75,  76,  82,  83,  136  ;  Cardinal 
Chigi's  visit  to,  65  ;  description  of  the  Château  of, 
66-72  ;  the  Salle  de  Vénus  at,  71  ;  La  Bruyère  on 
society  at,  83,  84  ;  the  tables  at,  90,  91  ;  tourna- 
ment at,  136  ;  statue  of  Louis  XIV.  at,  by  Bernini, 
207  ;  aqueduct  to  convey  water  to,  233  ;  ceiling  at, 
by  Lemoine,  313 

Vervins,  the  Peace  of,  200 

Vigoureux  (sorceress),  127-131 

Villars,  Maréchal  de,  390-393 

Villeroi,  Marshal,  5,  7,  125 

Villette,  Marquis  de,  145 

Villiers,  Marquise  de,  239 

Villiers- Vendôme,  190,  191 

Vincennes,  17  ;  the  royal  hunt  at,  6,  15 

Vine-growing  in  France,  276 

Vivarais,  the  Huguenots  in,  376 

Viviani,  the  mathematician,  94,  95 

Vivonne,  Duc  de,  117,  144 

Voisin  (sorceress),  127-131 

Voisin,  the  Chancellor,  424 

Voiture,  293 

Voltaire,  essay  on  the  century  of  Louis  XIV.,  xi.- 
xv.,  5,  76,  92,  289,  345,  346  ;  and  the  Man  in 
the  Iron  Mask,  21  ;  testimony  of,  to  the  careful 
government  of  Louis  XIV.,  56,  57  ;  his  pity  for 
Mademoiselle  de  la  Vallière,  102,  105  ;  and  the  wit 
of  Madame  de  Montespan,  118  ;  defends  the  Due 
d'Orléans,  163  ;  eulogium  by,  on  the  military 
organization  created  by  Louis  XIV.,  217,  221,  226  ; 
and  the  labouring  classes  of  France,  278,  280  ; 
tribute  paid  to  the  English  writers  by,  337,  338  ; 
on  the  Camisards  (White  Shirts),  394-396  ;  on 
Cardinal  de  Bouillon,  445 

Vossius  (historiographer),  94 

Vrillière,  Madame  de  la,  161 


WALLER  (poet),  336 
War  of  Succession,  the,  228,  233 
Warin,  Jean,  busts  and  medals  by,  xiv.,  314,  333,  334 
Watteau,  Antoine  (painter-),  328 
Winter  of  1709  in  France,  270,  271 
Witchcraft  in  France,  287.    See  also  Sorcery 


ZAMPIERI,  Marchese,  96 
Zell,  Duchess  of,  309 


LONDON:" 

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STAMFORD  STREET  AND  CHARING  CROSS. 


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